WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.670 --> 00:00:04.070
<v Speaker 1>Live from the heart of the nation's capital, this is

2
00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:06.570
<v Speaker 1>a Jim Acosta Show special report.

3
00:00:06.650 --> 00:00:11.769
<v Speaker 2>All right, welcome to the Jim Acosta Show. It's another

4
00:00:11.810 --> 00:00:14.599
<v Speaker 2>day that ends in Y in Donald Trump's assault on

5
00:00:14.630 --> 00:00:19.059
<v Speaker 2>American democracy. Trump is interfering in the midterms as we speak.

6
00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.199
<v Speaker 2>It's happening right now. His administration is trying to block

7
00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:25.940
<v Speaker 2>mail-in ballots from reaching voters via the post office. And

8
00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:28.780
<v Speaker 2>much more than that, let's discuss with Mary Trump. Mary,

9
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:30.199
<v Speaker 2>it's great to see you, as always.

10
00:00:31.050 --> 00:00:32.090
<v Speaker 3>Jim, it's great to be here.

11
00:00:32.689 --> 00:00:33.770
<v Speaker 4>I love hanging out with you.

12
00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:38.399
<v Speaker 3>And yeah, a thing or two happening on this day.

13
00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:41.500
<v Speaker 1>A thing or two happening, no question about it.

14
00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:44.640
<v Speaker 2>And I mean, I'm, you know, the election stuff, and

15
00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:47.969
<v Speaker 2>I want to get into Natalie Harp and the way

16
00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:50.270
<v Speaker 2>he's been losing it lately, Kennedy Center and so on.

17
00:00:50.810 --> 00:00:53.590
<v Speaker 2>But this election stuff, I really am concerned because we've

18
00:00:53.609 --> 00:00:56.570
<v Speaker 2>already been through this, you know, this whole, this idea that, oh,

19
00:00:57.009 --> 00:01:00.679
<v Speaker 2>you know, the way it's covered in legacy media, you know,

20
00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:03.640
<v Speaker 2>as if, you know, this is something that may occur

21
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.180
<v Speaker 2>or it's something that he's threatening to do or warning.

22
00:01:06.219 --> 00:01:08.239
<v Speaker 2>He may, he's doing it like he's doing it. And

23
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.500
<v Speaker 2>I think everybody's being too cautious in saying it. What's

24
00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:14.700
<v Speaker 2>been your observation of this? How worried are you about,

25
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.280
<v Speaker 2>about these upcoming midterms?

26
00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:22.480
<v Speaker 3>I've been worried about Donald's willingness to cheat and steal

27
00:01:22.549 --> 00:01:31.319
<v Speaker 3>elections since 2016, because he's, so deluded himself into believing

28
00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:34.780
<v Speaker 3>that he deserves to win, that he's perfectly comfortable cheating

29
00:01:34.819 --> 00:01:36.879
<v Speaker 3>in order to do so. And as we know, the

30
00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:39.680
<v Speaker 3>only way this guy ever does win is by cheating.

31
00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:43.329
<v Speaker 3>So we should all be concerned. As you said, it's

32
00:01:43.370 --> 00:01:46.489
<v Speaker 3>not like this is new. The writing has been on

33
00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:51.560
<v Speaker 3>the wall for a very long time, and especially since 2020.

34
00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:54.650
<v Speaker 3>with the big lie and the insurrection. How much more

35
00:01:54.810 --> 00:01:57.769
<v Speaker 3>evidence do we need that Donald Trump is capable of

36
00:01:57.810 --> 00:02:02.650
<v Speaker 3>doing whatever it takes in order to stay in power?

37
00:02:03.670 --> 00:02:07.909
<v Speaker 3>And the thing about the mail-in voting that's particularly concerning

38
00:02:08.009 --> 00:02:12.439
<v Speaker 3>is because it affects all elections. Now, gerrymandering, partisan gerrymandering,

39
00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:16.039
<v Speaker 3>racist gerrymandering, those are all very bad things, but they

40
00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:20.629
<v Speaker 3>can affect statewide or federal elections. Mail-in voting can, And

41
00:02:20.689 --> 00:02:27.800
<v Speaker 3>it's just an indication that Donald knows that without this assist,

42
00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:33.659
<v Speaker 3>this fraudulent assist, his party will lose. And that is

43
00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:35.840
<v Speaker 3>not going to end well for him. So, of course,

44
00:02:35.909 --> 00:02:37.870
<v Speaker 3>he's going to pull out all the stops. And, of course,

45
00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:40.889
<v Speaker 3>the corrupt, illegitimate Supreme Court is going to help him.

46
00:02:42.229 --> 00:02:43.759
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, that's the scary thing about it.

47
00:02:43.949 --> 00:02:46.750
<v Speaker 2>And judges are, I mean, I also have a problem

48
00:02:46.789 --> 00:02:50.120
<v Speaker 2>with the judicial system and the way the judges in

49
00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.379
<v Speaker 2>the Supreme Court have been behaving. I mean, this judge

50
00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:57.240
<v Speaker 2>today lifted an order that had blocked the administration from

51
00:02:57.259 --> 00:02:59.379
<v Speaker 2>carrying out these efforts. This is the New York Times.

52
00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:01.879
<v Speaker 2>The Postal Service can for now move ahead with plans

53
00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:04.360
<v Speaker 2>to restrict mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections in

54
00:03:04.419 --> 00:03:07.280
<v Speaker 2>November after a federal judge lifted an order that had

55
00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:11.199
<v Speaker 2>blocked it from carrying out Trump administration efforts. The judge

56
00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:13.360
<v Speaker 2>wrote that she felt compelled to act in response to

57
00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:16.620
<v Speaker 2>a ruling from the Supreme Court on Monday that that

58
00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:20.830
<v Speaker 2>the action by the courts was premature. And, you know,

59
00:03:20.949 --> 00:03:23.629
<v Speaker 2>I mean, under the plan, the Postal Service would not

60
00:03:23.689 --> 00:03:26.590
<v Speaker 2>deliver mail ballots in states that do not share voter

61
00:03:26.629 --> 00:03:28.270
<v Speaker 2>data with the agency and.

62
00:03:28.229 --> 00:03:31.229
<v Speaker 1>Would deliver only ballots that meet certain criteria.

63
00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:34.710
<v Speaker 2>And, you know, just this week, Mary, the Supreme Court

64
00:03:34.870 --> 00:03:38.669
<v Speaker 2>basically lied about Trump's intentions. You know, they lifted this

65
00:03:38.729 --> 00:03:40.990
<v Speaker 2>lower court stay of the executive order on the mail

66
00:03:41.030 --> 00:03:41.849
<v Speaker 2>and ballot stuff.

67
00:03:42.629 --> 00:03:44.729
<v Speaker 1>And it begins with a lie.

68
00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:48.860
<v Speaker 2>The ruling from the Supreme Court begins with, it says,

69
00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:51.539
<v Speaker 2>about five months ago, President Trump issued an executive order

70
00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.539
<v Speaker 2>designed to maintain public confidence in federal elections.

71
00:03:54.979 --> 00:03:55.699
<v Speaker 1>That's not true.

72
00:03:56.819 --> 00:03:57.219
<v Speaker 5>He doesn't.

73
00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.759
<v Speaker 2>It says he issued an executive order regarding election integrity.

74
00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:05.000
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't care about election integrity. He cares about elections

75
00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:06.879
<v Speaker 2>being tilted in his favor.

76
00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:12.180
<v Speaker 3>Yeah. And apparently the aforementioned corrupt illegitimate supermajority only cares

77
00:04:12.219 --> 00:04:19.379
<v Speaker 3>about that, too. don't care about the Constitution. Donald's never

78
00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:24.379
<v Speaker 3>read it. It is in the Constitution that elections are

79
00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:27.949
<v Speaker 3>run by states. The federal government has no role here.

80
00:04:28.629 --> 00:04:31.949
<v Speaker 3>And just to make it as simple as possible, Donald

81
00:04:32.790 --> 00:04:33.550
<v Speaker 3>votes by mail.

82
00:04:34.100 --> 00:04:34.269
<v Speaker 6>Right.

83
00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:40.459
<v Speaker 3>It just, the hypocrisy and the willingness of the Roberts

84
00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:45.339
<v Speaker 3>court to bend over backwards to give Donald an assist

85
00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.699
<v Speaker 3>is bordering on the grotesque at this point.

86
00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:48.740
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

87
00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:51.060
<v Speaker 2>I was asking the other day, who's the biggest super

88
00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:53.550
<v Speaker 2>fan of Donald Trump? Is it Natalie Harp or is

89
00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:57.110
<v Speaker 2>it Chief Justice John Roberts? I mean, you know, they're

90
00:04:57.129 --> 00:04:59.250
<v Speaker 2>both in serious competition with one another.

91
00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:03.930
<v Speaker 3>And Roberts has done much more to help out Donald

92
00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:05.529
<v Speaker 3>Trump than Natalie Harbaugh.

93
00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:09.370
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there's no question about it. And, you know, I mean,

94
00:05:09.709 --> 00:05:13.089
<v Speaker 2>there's example after example. Again, not to harp on this.

95
00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:13.910
<v Speaker 1>Hello.

96
00:05:15.709 --> 00:05:19.189
<v Speaker 2>Using ICE as a weapon against voting. You know, there's

97
00:05:19.209 --> 00:05:21.189
<v Speaker 2>a Republican nominee for governor in Maine today.

98
00:05:21.230 --> 00:05:21.889
<v Speaker 1>Total supporters.

99
00:05:21.930 --> 00:05:24.790
<v Speaker 2>He plans to ask Homeland Security to send ICE to

100
00:05:24.810 --> 00:05:28.310
<v Speaker 2>polling places in Maine before the midterms. Washington Post has

101
00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:32.100
<v Speaker 2>a story today. Trump is threatening to election arrest election officials.

102
00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:34.860
<v Speaker 2>And I mean, it goes on and on and on.

103
00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:37.079
<v Speaker 2>It's it's this is what I want people to understand.

104
00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:39.680
<v Speaker 2>It's happening right now. It's already started.

105
00:05:41.129 --> 00:05:41.750
<v Speaker 4>Absolutely.

106
00:05:42.129 --> 00:05:47.829
<v Speaker 3>And it would be malpractice for governors and blue states

107
00:05:48.149 --> 00:05:51.209
<v Speaker 3>or Democratic governors not to be taking this seriously and

108
00:05:51.290 --> 00:05:53.300
<v Speaker 3>not to have a plan in place. I mean, the

109
00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:57.560
<v Speaker 3>good news is that that Democratic AGs meet regularly to

110
00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.589
<v Speaker 3>discuss make sure that they do whatever they can to

111
00:06:01.670 --> 00:06:04.170
<v Speaker 3>protect their state's elections. So that should make us all

112
00:06:04.189 --> 00:06:07.250
<v Speaker 3>feel better. But I think that governors who have a

113
00:06:07.310 --> 00:06:12.439
<v Speaker 3>massive amount of power, and we forget that sometimes, states

114
00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:18.240
<v Speaker 3>are sovereign. And Democratic governors could make sure that they

115
00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.639
<v Speaker 3>counter any ICE presence with the National Guard, for example.

116
00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:24.290
<v Speaker 3>And just to make sure that there is no violence

117
00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.649
<v Speaker 3>and there is no voter intimidation, which is exactly... what

118
00:06:27.750 --> 00:06:30.600
<v Speaker 3>will happen if ICE is allowed to show up to

119
00:06:30.629 --> 00:06:34.000
<v Speaker 3>polling places in Democratic cities unchallenged. Yeah.

120
00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.459
<v Speaker 2>No, and states have state police forces. I mean, I

121
00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.759
<v Speaker 2>think that you could just have a couple of squad

122
00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:42.420
<v Speaker 2>cars in certain locations and just say, hey, you know,

123
00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:44.480
<v Speaker 2>we're keeping, you're keeping an eye on us. We're keeping

124
00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:48.060
<v Speaker 2>an eye on you. You know, I mentioned Natalie Harp.

125
00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:50.939
<v Speaker 2>Let's talk about this because Mary, you and I haven't

126
00:06:51.139 --> 00:06:53.069
<v Speaker 2>had a chance to speak in a while. We've seen

127
00:06:53.850 --> 00:06:56.709
<v Speaker 2>Donald go through this over the years where he collects

128
00:06:56.769 --> 00:06:58.490
<v Speaker 2>these aides who get super.

129
00:06:58.250 --> 00:06:59.029
<v Speaker 1>Clingy with him.

130
00:06:59.050 --> 00:07:02.069
<v Speaker 2>Natalie Harp seems to have like blown all of them

131
00:07:02.189 --> 00:07:06.050
<v Speaker 2>out of the water in her clinginess. And I mean,

132
00:07:06.069 --> 00:07:08.050
<v Speaker 2>just over the weekend, they had this big race here

133
00:07:08.069 --> 00:07:11.089
<v Speaker 2>in Washington, which they, where they spent a whole bunch

134
00:07:11.129 --> 00:07:12.370
<v Speaker 2>of money. And I guess not a lot of people

135
00:07:12.889 --> 00:07:15.290
<v Speaker 2>turned out, but Melania turned out the first lady showed

136
00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:17.490
<v Speaker 2>up out of nowhere. We haven't seen her in a while.

137
00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:20.290
<v Speaker 2>We have some video of this. She looked really pissed

138
00:07:20.769 --> 00:07:22.629
<v Speaker 2>with Trump. I'm sure you saw this.

139
00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:24.720
<v Speaker 1>She did not look happy.

140
00:07:25.300 --> 00:07:26.839
<v Speaker 2>And I guess maybe she was not happy that she

141
00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.540
<v Speaker 2>had to make an appearance as part of her deal

142
00:07:29.579 --> 00:07:32.709
<v Speaker 2>with Donald there. But what do you make of this

143
00:07:32.750 --> 00:07:36.269
<v Speaker 2>whole Natalie Harp fiasco? We haven't had a chance to

144
00:07:36.290 --> 00:07:36.769
<v Speaker 2>talk about it.

145
00:07:37.129 --> 00:07:39.810
<v Speaker 3>Well, I mean, obviously, Melania only shows up if she's

146
00:07:39.870 --> 00:07:42.129
<v Speaker 3>handsomely paid. And that's probably where most of the money

147
00:07:42.170 --> 00:07:46.810
<v Speaker 3>went to get her there. But I think the Natalie

148
00:07:46.970 --> 00:07:51.939
<v Speaker 3>Harp situation is of a piece with Donald's general decline.

149
00:07:53.220 --> 00:08:01.660
<v Speaker 3>It makes him look like such a pathetic, frail, needy

150
00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:05.730
<v Speaker 3>old man that he has to have a woman young

151
00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:10.920
<v Speaker 3>enough to be his granddaughter constantly with him, protecting him,

152
00:08:12.069 --> 00:08:17.160
<v Speaker 3>making sure that he sees positive press clippings about him,

153
00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:22.750
<v Speaker 3>positive articles, most of which are probably fictional. it's a

154
00:08:22.829 --> 00:08:28.379
<v Speaker 3>very bad look for him. And it also shows you that,

155
00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:30.839
<v Speaker 3>you know, probably not in the not too distant past,

156
00:08:31.259 --> 00:08:34.159
<v Speaker 3>somebody like that would have been too much even for him,

157
00:08:34.179 --> 00:08:40.980
<v Speaker 3>but because he's so in so much trouble and he

158
00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:45.600
<v Speaker 3>is really lashing out and is really desperate to change

159
00:08:45.620 --> 00:08:49.730
<v Speaker 3>the narrative. And his, his ego is being threatened at

160
00:08:49.809 --> 00:08:55.700
<v Speaker 3>every turn. He needs somebody, constantly filling his head with

161
00:08:56.139 --> 00:09:01.110
<v Speaker 3>compliments and positive messages. And she fits the bill, I

162
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:01.659
<v Speaker 3>have to say that.

163
00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:02.419
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

164
00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.870
<v Speaker 2>And this is more than what we've witnessed in the past,

165
00:09:05.909 --> 00:09:08.309
<v Speaker 2>it seems, what she's doing, it seems.

166
00:09:09.129 --> 00:09:13.470
<v Speaker 3>Well, yeah, it's extreme. It's over the top. And again,

167
00:09:13.870 --> 00:09:17.750
<v Speaker 3>it looks terrible. Like I personally, I don't care what

168
00:09:18.029 --> 00:09:23.009
<v Speaker 3>the contours of their relationship are. I really don't care. Clearly,

169
00:09:23.070 --> 00:09:28.240
<v Speaker 3>she's somebody who needs help, though. What I do care about, besides, again,

170
00:09:28.289 --> 00:09:33.399
<v Speaker 3>the fact that it's just another example of how far

171
00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:38.259
<v Speaker 3>gone he is, she presents a very real national security

172
00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:42.200
<v Speaker 3>threat to the United States of America, all because the

173
00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:49.500
<v Speaker 3>president is a flailing, failing old man whose ego is fragile.

174
00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:52.179
<v Speaker 3>That's the most alarming.

175
00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:52.250
<v Speaker 4>Thing about her.

176
00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:53.620
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

177
00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:56.529
<v Speaker 2>And I mean, there are signs of decline all over.

178
00:09:56.690 --> 00:09:59.490
<v Speaker 2>I mean, the way he's lashing out about the Kennedy

179
00:09:59.529 --> 00:10:02.840
<v Speaker 2>Center now. they're threatening to demolish the Kennedy Center if

180
00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:04.399
<v Speaker 2>they don't put his name back up there.

181
00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:06.580
<v Speaker 1>He's lashing out at the Canadians.

182
00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:08.850
<v Speaker 2>You know, it sort of reminds me of Grandpa Simpson

183
00:10:08.870 --> 00:10:10.889
<v Speaker 2>shaking his fist at the moon at the moon or

184
00:10:10.929 --> 00:10:11.490
<v Speaker 2>the clouds or.

185
00:10:11.470 --> 00:10:12.289
<v Speaker 1>Whatever it was.

186
00:10:12.970 --> 00:10:15.750
<v Speaker 2>And, you know, he's got these true social posts that

187
00:10:15.769 --> 00:10:19.320
<v Speaker 2>he's going to rename again. Lake Ontario, Lake America, and

188
00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.159
<v Speaker 2>nobody's going to go along with that. Sort of like

189
00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:25.740
<v Speaker 2>when your, your crazy uncle makes, you know, stupid racist

190
00:10:25.820 --> 00:10:28.279
<v Speaker 2>jokes at the, at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

191
00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:29.779
<v Speaker 1>And everybody just kind of like, you know, does one

192
00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:31.610
<v Speaker 1>of these things. Oh, geez. You know, I can't wait

193
00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:33.370
<v Speaker 1>for this, this dinner to be over. So we can

194
00:10:33.379 --> 00:10:37.070
<v Speaker 1>all go home. He's acting like that guy. Well, yes.

195
00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:37.789
<v Speaker 3>Well aware.

196
00:10:38.629 --> 00:10:38.769
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

197
00:10:38.809 --> 00:10:42.110
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry. And I mentioned uncle. So that was my.

198
00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:47.909
<v Speaker 3>Whole family at Thanksgiving, actually. So, But it's getting worse, obviously.

199
00:10:48.730 --> 00:10:51.889
<v Speaker 3>And he is. He is that guy shaking his fist

200
00:10:52.649 --> 00:10:55.470
<v Speaker 3>at the clouds. But really what he's shaking his fist

201
00:10:55.590 --> 00:11:00.669
<v Speaker 3>at is reality because he has completely lost control of

202
00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:06.519
<v Speaker 3>this narrative. And people are beginning to see that there's

203
00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:11.519
<v Speaker 3>no need to capitulate to this profoundly weak person. There

204
00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:15.080
<v Speaker 3>is no reason to go along with his rantings and

205
00:11:15.100 --> 00:11:18.659
<v Speaker 3>his ravings Because not only do they make him look bad,

206
00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:23.799
<v Speaker 3>they make his supporters and enablers look bad. So you

207
00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:27.679
<v Speaker 3>know that you've lost the plot when cattle ranchers have

208
00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:28.700
<v Speaker 3>turned against you.

209
00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:31.580
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, no, it's so true.

210
00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:33.720
<v Speaker 2>I mean, everybody is mad at him right now. 47

211
00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.299
<v Speaker 2>states and the District of Columbia. Apparently he's underwater in

212
00:11:36.340 --> 00:11:38.840
<v Speaker 2>all of those places. But, you know, one of the

213
00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:41.860
<v Speaker 2>features of Donald Trump, Mary, and this is not really age.

214
00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.740
<v Speaker 1>Relative is the way he will throw people under the bus.

215
00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:46.779
<v Speaker 2>And he's got, there was a true social post where he,

216
00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:50.230
<v Speaker 2>he retweeted somebody saying that, you know, the GOP doesn't

217
00:11:50.250 --> 00:11:53.250
<v Speaker 2>understand how badly they're screwing things up. I don't think

218
00:11:53.269 --> 00:11:56.629
<v Speaker 2>the GOP fully grasps how badly they're fucking up right now.

219
00:11:57.029 --> 00:11:58.509
<v Speaker 1>Trump put that on his true social.

220
00:12:00.830 --> 00:12:05.620
<v Speaker 4>Well, that's, that's the way to message it, right? Hey,

221
00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:06.279
<v Speaker 4>thank you, Donald.

222
00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:11.820
<v Speaker 3>That's actually really helpful. And it's, what's interesting is, What's

223
00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:14.799
<v Speaker 3>what's the rationale for thinking that? Because the truth of

224
00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:17.259
<v Speaker 3>the matter is the ways in which the Republicans are

225
00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:22.330
<v Speaker 3>fucking up by is by continuing to be completely 100

226
00:12:22.330 --> 00:12:27.490
<v Speaker 3>percent behind him every step of the way, even though

227
00:12:28.269 --> 00:12:31.509
<v Speaker 3>he got rid of two incumbents who easily would have

228
00:12:31.529 --> 00:12:39.429
<v Speaker 3>won reelection and he installed Darlene Nordone, who is likely

229
00:12:39.470 --> 00:12:43.110
<v Speaker 3>to lose against a far superior Democratic candidate, Annie Andrews,

230
00:12:43.610 --> 00:12:46.909
<v Speaker 3>in South Carolina. So that's the way in which they're

231
00:12:46.929 --> 00:12:51.570
<v Speaker 3>fucking up, not by doing anything that he could objectively

232
00:12:52.590 --> 00:12:53.049
<v Speaker 3>object to.

233
00:12:54.029 --> 00:12:54.309
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

234
00:12:54.870 --> 00:12:59.210
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Darlene, you know, she doesn't know about national security.

235
00:12:59.250 --> 00:13:01.129
<v Speaker 1>She doesn't know anything about it. She admitted that during

236
00:13:01.169 --> 00:13:03.029
<v Speaker 1>a debate. Okay, you know, good luck with that.

237
00:13:03.429 --> 00:13:05.509
<v Speaker 2>But, you know, the funny thing about, you know, Trump

238
00:13:05.529 --> 00:13:08.840
<v Speaker 2>throwing the entire Republican Party under the bus is, is that,

239
00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:11.120
<v Speaker 2>I mean, he is the one that is, you know,

240
00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:14.320
<v Speaker 2>is largely, I mean, he is 100% responsible for where

241
00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:15.779
<v Speaker 2>we are as a country right now. He put up

242
00:13:15.820 --> 00:13:19.419
<v Speaker 2>a Truth Social post declaring mission accomplished with Iran. I mean,

243
00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.700
<v Speaker 2>this is also the detachment from reality thing.

244
00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:21.940
<v Speaker 6>Yeah.

245
00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:23.820
<v Speaker 1>He's making fun of Bush.

246
00:13:23.950 --> 00:13:27.009
<v Speaker 2>For the mission accomplished thing, mission not accomplished. And he has,

247
00:13:27.409 --> 00:13:31.750
<v Speaker 2>this says mission accomplished 2026 with Iran. Nobody thinks it's

248
00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:34.549
<v Speaker 2>mission accomplished. Zero people think that.

249
00:13:34.889 --> 00:13:38.809
<v Speaker 3>No, well, we're still at war. So, yeah. And tell

250
00:13:38.830 --> 00:13:41.090
<v Speaker 3>that to the sailors of the USS Lincoln.

251
00:13:41.830 --> 00:13:42.789
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

252
00:13:43.350 --> 00:13:43.529
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

253
00:13:43.629 --> 00:13:46.460
<v Speaker 3>It's an interesting strategy. But I think this is this

254
00:13:46.509 --> 00:13:52.860
<v Speaker 3>is also part of what will eventually be his undoing. Now,

255
00:13:53.419 --> 00:13:57.100
<v Speaker 3>strong men, people like Donald, who have always gotten their

256
00:13:57.139 --> 00:14:01.419
<v Speaker 3>way and who have successfully used the strategy of humiliation

257
00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.149
<v Speaker 3>to co-opt people and gain power over them. can only

258
00:14:05.210 --> 00:14:10.700
<v Speaker 3>do that if they still are in control. And I

259
00:14:10.769 --> 00:14:13.559
<v Speaker 3>think he's just used to that. And to be fair,

260
00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.320
<v Speaker 3>Republicans have let him get away with it. They stay

261
00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:19.039
<v Speaker 3>in line, even though he humiliates them all the time.

262
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.820
<v Speaker 3>Even people like J.D. Vance, you know, it's one of

263
00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:26.700
<v Speaker 3>his favorite hobbies that he learned from my grandfather. But

264
00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:32.559
<v Speaker 3>as his grasp of reality and his grasp on power weakens,

265
00:14:33.710 --> 00:14:36.269
<v Speaker 3>they're not going to sit still for it anymore. I mean,

266
00:14:36.289 --> 00:14:38.830
<v Speaker 3>we're seeing this with our allies. We're seeing this with

267
00:14:39.289 --> 00:14:43.399
<v Speaker 3>universities who aren't caving in and bending the knee automatically anymore.

268
00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:45.960
<v Speaker 3>So I think we're going to see a steady stream

269
00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.259
<v Speaker 3>of Republicans also starting to push back.

270
00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:54.129
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And Fred Trump, he enjoyed a good humiliation ritual.

271
00:14:54.190 --> 00:14:56.210
<v Speaker 1>Is that Yes.

272
00:14:56.370 --> 00:15:01.110
<v Speaker 3>Next to money, my grandfather's favorite thing was humiliating people

273
00:15:01.210 --> 00:15:04.049
<v Speaker 3>who were weaker and less powerful than he was.

274
00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:04.639
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

275
00:15:05.259 --> 00:15:05.539
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

276
00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:07.940
<v Speaker 1>And the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree

277
00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:09.419
<v Speaker 1>in that regard, it seems. Yeah.

278
00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:10.179
<v Speaker 4>This one did not.

279
00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:11.419
<v Speaker 1>This one did not.

280
00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:14.159
<v Speaker 2>The other thing that, Mary, we should talk about, too, is,

281
00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:16.450
<v Speaker 2>and I don't know, I should have asked you what

282
00:15:16.470 --> 00:15:17.789
<v Speaker 2>your thoughts were ahead of time on this.

283
00:15:17.809 --> 00:15:18.330
<v Speaker 1>We'll just do it.

284
00:15:19.289 --> 00:15:21.889
<v Speaker 2>The way he has been picking on the trans community,

285
00:15:21.970 --> 00:15:24.629
<v Speaker 2>the way he has been picking on trans kids, I'm

286
00:15:24.669 --> 00:15:29.019
<v Speaker 2>old enough to remember when Donald Trump used to try

287
00:15:29.059 --> 00:15:34.899
<v Speaker 2>to appeal to the LGBTQ community as a Republican, even

288
00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:36.779
<v Speaker 2>though we knew he wasn't a Republican way back then.

289
00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:40.370
<v Speaker 2>And the way these days he just totally picks on

290
00:15:42.049 --> 00:15:44.929
<v Speaker 2>vulnerable people in the trans community, to me, it's one

291
00:15:44.970 --> 00:15:47.970
<v Speaker 2>of the more disgusting things that I've seen take place

292
00:15:48.009 --> 00:15:51.320
<v Speaker 2>during the second administration. It's not covered enough because I

293
00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:53.759
<v Speaker 2>don't think our legacy media, national media, I don't think,

294
00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:55.940
<v Speaker 2>I don't, I was doing a Google search.

295
00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:58.879
<v Speaker 1>They don't know how to cover it. And I guess

296
00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:00.980
<v Speaker 1>there's a, he was at this event. What was it

297
00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:04.100
<v Speaker 1>yesterday in the Rose garden? His hair looked super weird,

298
00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:05.379
<v Speaker 1>by the way. I don't know what you think. Maybe

299
00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:07.299
<v Speaker 1>we can talk about it. His hair looks so weird,

300
00:16:07.830 --> 00:16:10.370
<v Speaker 1>but he was talking about this.

301
00:16:11.049 --> 00:16:13.909
<v Speaker 6>In reading and math that was under the last administration.

302
00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:18.440
<v Speaker 6>Under the Trump administration, we're systematically ending every single one

303
00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:23.100
<v Speaker 6>of these radical left betrayals, and we're putting the parents

304
00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:24.019
<v Speaker 6>back in charge.

305
00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:26.549
<v Speaker 1>They're the ones that love our children. They're the ones

306
00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:27.649
<v Speaker 1>that should be in charge.

307
00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:33.710
<v Speaker 6>So immediately upon taking office, I signed an executive order

308
00:16:33.730 --> 00:16:38.580
<v Speaker 6>to ban critical race theory and to ban transgender ideology

309
00:16:38.629 --> 00:16:42.269
<v Speaker 6>from public schools. That was a big deal. We banned

310
00:16:42.389 --> 00:16:45.210
<v Speaker 6>men from playing in women's sports. That was so easy

311
00:16:45.269 --> 00:16:47.090
<v Speaker 6>to do. I don't get it.

312
00:16:47.090 --> 00:16:50.169
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, some of this stuff is gross. I

313
00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.580
<v Speaker 2>don't want to play it too long, but he does.

314
00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:55.960
<v Speaker 2>It's almost like his favorite campaign thing now that he

315
00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:56.720
<v Speaker 2>talks about.

316
00:16:56.740 --> 00:16:57.419
<v Speaker 1>Your thoughts on this?

317
00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:03.990
<v Speaker 3>Well, unfortunately, this stuff works. Republicans are very good at

318
00:17:04.049 --> 00:17:08.230
<v Speaker 3>crafting these kinds of vile, divisive messages. And, you know,

319
00:17:08.250 --> 00:17:12.210
<v Speaker 3>they almost always do. to target the most vulnerable among us.

320
00:17:12.259 --> 00:17:14.359
<v Speaker 3>We just need to look at how they've treated and

321
00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:19.000
<v Speaker 3>talked about immigrants. Now, here's the thing. I agree with

322
00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.799
<v Speaker 3>you that Donald is largely responsible for many of the

323
00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.339
<v Speaker 3>horrors that we're living through, but he couldn't have done

324
00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:27.819
<v Speaker 3>it without his enablers in Congress and on the Supreme

325
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:32.650
<v Speaker 3>Court and throughout the judiciary. This is not his idea.

326
00:17:32.890 --> 00:17:36.539
<v Speaker 3>He didn't come up with this stuff Somebody else did.

327
00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:37.480
<v Speaker 3>And it works.

328
00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:38.359
<v Speaker 4>It tracks.

329
00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:45.279
<v Speaker 3>And shame on anybody who actually believes this vile nonsense.

330
00:17:46.619 --> 00:17:49.349
<v Speaker 3>Trans people make up less than 1% of the population

331
00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:53.450
<v Speaker 3>of the United States of America. Imagine what tiny percentage

332
00:17:53.710 --> 00:17:57.730
<v Speaker 3>of those are children who want to play sports.

333
00:17:57.329 --> 00:17:57.990
<v Speaker 4>With their friends.

334
00:17:58.710 --> 00:18:03.759
<v Speaker 3>So they are endangering the lives, the physical and mental

335
00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:10.680
<v Speaker 3>wellbeing of children, all to get people's votes by instilling

336
00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:18.130
<v Speaker 3>completely unreasonable fear in their base. And it is so

337
00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:23.849
<v Speaker 3>horrifying to witness this and watch it not be covered

338
00:18:24.569 --> 00:18:27.329
<v Speaker 3>at all, or when it is covered, not covered properly.

339
00:18:28.509 --> 00:18:32.589
<v Speaker 3>not to make it clear to people just what a

340
00:18:32.730 --> 00:18:36.109
<v Speaker 3>non-issue this always was. Trans people have always existed.

341
00:18:36.710 --> 00:18:37.750
<v Speaker 4>This is not new.

342
00:18:38.569 --> 00:18:41.940
<v Speaker 3>So this was never an issue before. And then to

343
00:18:42.019 --> 00:18:45.859
<v Speaker 3>have the president of the United States make up the

344
00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:54.529
<v Speaker 3>most insane lies about schools, giving people gender surgery. It's

345
00:18:54.829 --> 00:18:58.809
<v Speaker 3>maddening that anybody in their right mind would believe it

346
00:18:59.029 --> 00:19:02.789
<v Speaker 3>and that it's been allowed to take root. Um, and I,

347
00:19:02.930 --> 00:19:05.329
<v Speaker 3>I don't know. I, I just, it's shameful.

348
00:19:05.990 --> 00:19:07.150
<v Speaker 1>It is shameful. And you know what?

349
00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:09.579
<v Speaker 2>You make a great point, Mary, and that this did

350
00:19:09.619 --> 00:19:13.400
<v Speaker 2>not originate in his head. Um, and the way he

351
00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:15.960
<v Speaker 2>stupidly lies about it is, is kind of, kind of

352
00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:18.759
<v Speaker 2>makes that point because he, he, it's so stupid and

353
00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:22.509
<v Speaker 2>it's so outlandish and it's so exaggerated beyond the pale

354
00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:24.339
<v Speaker 2>that it, it, it's.

355
00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:25.890
<v Speaker 1>Laughable how dumb it is.

356
00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:29.710
<v Speaker 2>It would be laughable if it wasn't so horribly tragic. And,

357
00:19:30.529 --> 00:19:33.309
<v Speaker 2>you know, there are so many people in the very

358
00:19:33.450 --> 00:19:37.529
<v Speaker 2>culturally conservative MAGA community who should be holding their heads

359
00:19:37.589 --> 00:19:40.849
<v Speaker 2>in shame over this because they're the ones who put

360
00:19:40.910 --> 00:19:42.230
<v Speaker 2>those talking points in his head.

361
00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:43.289
<v Speaker 1>There's no question about it.

362
00:19:43.339 --> 00:19:46.180
<v Speaker 2>And, you know, they must sit around the table, you know,

363
00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.500
<v Speaker 2>one of the tables at the White House and gin

364
00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.859
<v Speaker 2>up how, you know, they can rake the trans community

365
00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:54.700
<v Speaker 2>over the coals and rake vulnerable communities over the coals

366
00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:55.839
<v Speaker 2>for political gain.

367
00:19:56.019 --> 00:19:57.579
<v Speaker 1>And it is, it's disgusting.

368
00:19:59.180 --> 00:19:59.460
<v Speaker 5>It is.

369
00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:01.640
<v Speaker 1>And he uses them. He uses them, by the way.

370
00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:04.329
<v Speaker 1>I mean, yeah. And they use him, I guess.

371
00:20:04.789 --> 00:20:08.109
<v Speaker 3>Because, you know, I think, I think that the deal

372
00:20:08.130 --> 00:20:12.470
<v Speaker 3>with the devil has been As long as Donald has

373
00:20:12.569 --> 00:20:14.990
<v Speaker 3>power and as long as he's able to steal as

374
00:20:15.049 --> 00:20:18.250
<v Speaker 3>much money from the American people as he wants and

375
00:20:19.009 --> 00:20:22.890
<v Speaker 3>grift as much as he wants, the Nazis like Stephen

376
00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:27.819
<v Speaker 3>Miller can come up with whatever cruel policies they want

377
00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.359
<v Speaker 3>and Donald will sign off on them. I think that's

378
00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:33.420
<v Speaker 3>pretty much where we are. He doesn't care. He doesn't

379
00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:38.009
<v Speaker 3>care about other human beings. He doesn't care what the

380
00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:42.829
<v Speaker 3>impact of these horrible policies are. might be, he doesn't care.

381
00:20:43.450 --> 00:20:46.430
<v Speaker 3>So as long as he gets what he wants, and

382
00:20:46.470 --> 00:20:50.359
<v Speaker 3>that is truly what we're dealing with right now. It's

383
00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:52.740
<v Speaker 3>like the entirety of the United States government right now

384
00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.940
<v Speaker 3>is in service to protecting his ego and to making

385
00:20:55.980 --> 00:21:00.519
<v Speaker 3>him and his useless children rich while the other people

386
00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:07.529
<v Speaker 3>in his inner circle inflict such extraordinary damage to our

387
00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:09.769
<v Speaker 3>country and the people in it. Yeah.

388
00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:11.200
<v Speaker 1>It is astounding.

389
00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.160
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you know, when I saw Jared Kushner meeting

390
00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:17.220
<v Speaker 2>with Hakeem Jeffries the other day, I mean, I was like,

391
00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:19.240
<v Speaker 2>wait a minute, what is going on here? It is

392
00:21:19.329 --> 00:21:24.029
<v Speaker 2>astounding how the kids have resurfaced in this White House.

393
00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:27.369
<v Speaker 2>I remember when Jared and Ivanka, they ran off into hiding.

394
00:21:28.549 --> 00:21:30.710
<v Speaker 2>They secluded themselves and they didn't want to go in

395
00:21:30.730 --> 00:21:32.839
<v Speaker 2>front of the cameras and they wouldn't go to New

396
00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:37.000
<v Speaker 2>York anymore. And now Jared Kushner's brother's buying the Lakers

397
00:21:37.059 --> 00:21:39.579
<v Speaker 2>and Melania and Jared want to buy an island and

398
00:21:40.109 --> 00:21:41.670
<v Speaker 2>Jared's meeting with Hakeem.

399
00:21:42.049 --> 00:21:44.509
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of sickening to see that come back, too,

400
00:21:45.089 --> 00:21:45.609
<v Speaker 1>I will say.

401
00:21:45.630 --> 00:21:49.509
<v Speaker 2>And Don and Donnie and Eric making all that money in.

402
00:21:49.490 --> 00:21:51.009
<v Speaker 1>A ridiculously corrupt way.

403
00:21:51.289 --> 00:21:52.450
<v Speaker 4>It's all corrupt.

404
00:21:52.970 --> 00:21:53.470
<v Speaker 1>And barren.

405
00:21:54.250 --> 00:21:58.430
<v Speaker 3>What 19-year-old doesn't have the business savvy to make $ 200

406
00:21:58.029 --> 00:21:59.210
<v Speaker 3>million a year?

407
00:21:59.670 --> 00:22:03.289
<v Speaker 4>Like, truly. Yeah, it's disgusting. It's despicable.

408
00:22:03.789 --> 00:22:06.869
<v Speaker 3>And again, wouldn't be happening if we had a functioning government,

409
00:22:06.890 --> 00:22:12.839
<v Speaker 3>which we clearly don't. It is not a good thing

410
00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:17.220
<v Speaker 3>to have Jared Kushner or any of Donald's useless children

411
00:22:17.259 --> 00:22:22.039
<v Speaker 3>involved in anything. And what Jeffrey did is inexplicable to me.

412
00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:27.569
<v Speaker 3>Jared is not a member of this government. He doesn't

413
00:22:27.589 --> 00:22:31.450
<v Speaker 3>have a job in this government. And he's one of

414
00:22:31.490 --> 00:22:35.289
<v Speaker 3>the people who needs to be held accountable. So basically

415
00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:37.849
<v Speaker 3>what Jeffrey is signaling here is that when and if

416
00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:41.089
<v Speaker 3>the Democrats regain power, people like Jared Kushner are going

417
00:22:41.109 --> 00:22:44.930
<v Speaker 3>to have a say in how we work things out. No,

418
00:22:45.970 --> 00:22:49.670
<v Speaker 3>I it's mind boggling to me that you would do

419
00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:54.680
<v Speaker 3>anything to legitimize or normalize or empower somebody as vile

420
00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.400
<v Speaker 3>and traitorous as Jared Kushner.

421
00:22:57.059 --> 00:22:57.279
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

422
00:22:58.250 --> 00:22:59.069
<v Speaker 1>But it is happening.

423
00:22:59.130 --> 00:23:02.430
<v Speaker 2>And I think Hakeem Jeffries maybe touched the hot stove

424
00:23:02.490 --> 00:23:03.339
<v Speaker 2>and he learned his lesson.

425
00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:03.859
<v Speaker 1>And we'll see.

426
00:23:03.890 --> 00:23:06.900
<v Speaker 2>We'll see how that plays out. But when you bring

427
00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.759
<v Speaker 2>up the kids, it's extraordinary because they had all– I

428
00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:14.299
<v Speaker 2>remember watching Don and Eric and Ivanka. They were all

429
00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:16.940
<v Speaker 2>crying at that farewell ceremony to Donald Trump when he

430
00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:19.319
<v Speaker 2>left office in disgrace the first time around.

431
00:23:19.339 --> 00:23:21.380
<v Speaker 1>I was there at Joint Base Andrews.

432
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.700
<v Speaker 2>And the way they've all come back and just made

433
00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:29.190
<v Speaker 2>a fortune to me, that– books could be written on that.

434
00:23:29.650 --> 00:23:33.390
<v Speaker 1>It's just, it's, it's, it's totally insane. Yeah.

435
00:23:33.450 --> 00:23:35.630
<v Speaker 3>And it's all been allowed to happen by other people.

436
00:23:36.269 --> 00:23:36.829
<v Speaker 1>No question.

437
00:23:37.190 --> 00:23:41.130
<v Speaker 2>Chiefly the Republicans in Congress who won't investigate it at all. Mary,

438
00:23:41.170 --> 00:23:42.849
<v Speaker 2>great to see you. Thank you so much for coming

439
00:23:43.009 --> 00:23:44.650
<v Speaker 2>on and wonderful to catch up.

440
00:23:45.190 --> 00:23:46.410
<v Speaker 4>Thanks Jim. This is always great.

441
00:23:46.829 --> 00:23:47.069
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

442
00:23:47.109 --> 00:23:47.490
<v Speaker 1>Thanks Mary.

443
00:23:47.650 --> 00:23:47.869
<v Speaker 3>All right.

444
00:23:47.970 --> 00:23:48.880
<v Speaker 1>Take care. Good to see you.

445
00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.539
<v Speaker 2>The other person I've been wanting, I've been dying to

446
00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:56.099
<v Speaker 2>talk to all week is somebody we profiled last year.

447
00:23:57.049 --> 00:24:01.089
<v Speaker 2>when she was fired by the Washington Post wrongly for

448
00:24:01.190 --> 00:24:05.660
<v Speaker 2>simply offering her views on Charlie Kirk. This week, she's

449
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:09.160
<v Speaker 2>been reinstated by an arbitrator. And there she is, Karen Atiyah,

450
00:24:09.819 --> 00:24:11.660
<v Speaker 2>author of The Golden Hour on Substack.

451
00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:13.839
<v Speaker 1>Karen, we're back together. It's great to see you again.

452
00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:17.240
<v Speaker 4>Oh, man, it's so good to see you. Thanks so much, Jim.

453
00:24:17.349 --> 00:24:18.849
<v Speaker 4>I was like, I have to talk to Jim.

454
00:24:18.950 --> 00:24:19.319
<v Speaker 3>I have to.

455
00:24:19.329 --> 00:24:20.119
<v Speaker 1>No, no, no, I knew it.

456
00:24:20.730 --> 00:24:22.869
<v Speaker 2>When I saw this, I was elated. I was so

457
00:24:22.930 --> 00:24:26.500
<v Speaker 2>excited for you. And I thought, my God, something... something

458
00:24:26.539 --> 00:24:29.420
<v Speaker 2>good happened. There's all this bad stuff happening and something

459
00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:32.619
<v Speaker 2>good happened. And Karen, I I've been meaning to, I've

460
00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:34.339
<v Speaker 2>been dying to ask you, do you want to go

461
00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:36.500
<v Speaker 2>back to the Washington post? Like, are you going to

462
00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:39.220
<v Speaker 2>go do that and go back to your job? Have

463
00:24:39.259 --> 00:24:40.299
<v Speaker 2>you gone back in there yet?

464
00:24:40.380 --> 00:24:41.049
<v Speaker 1>What's going on?

465
00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:42.140
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

466
00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:42.609
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

467
00:24:42.660 --> 00:24:46.470
<v Speaker 5>So I mean, we're, we're what, uh, 48 hours or

468
00:24:46.490 --> 00:24:47.430
<v Speaker 5>so since then.

469
00:24:47.490 --> 00:24:47.930
<v Speaker 1>That's true.

470
00:24:47.970 --> 00:24:52.029
<v Speaker 4>Yeah. As of now, um, I still have not heard

471
00:24:52.069 --> 00:24:52.869
<v Speaker 4>from the post.

472
00:24:53.509 --> 00:24:59.680
<v Speaker 5>Um, my goyers, my guild reps are the first thing

473
00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:00.769
<v Speaker 5>that is on the agenda.

474
00:25:00.789 --> 00:25:02.289
<v Speaker 4>We're working out the back pay part.

475
00:25:04.930 --> 00:25:07.609
<v Speaker 5>So I was awarded not just reinstatement, but full back

476
00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:09.910
<v Speaker 5>pay for the year.

477
00:25:10.009 --> 00:25:12.849
<v Speaker 4>So that I was, we were all like, all right,

478
00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:13.549
<v Speaker 4>y'all need to.

479
00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:17.029
<v Speaker 1>Like, yeah, that's important.

480
00:25:17.609 --> 00:25:17.930
<v Speaker 5>Yeah.

481
00:25:18.089 --> 00:25:18.410
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

482
00:25:18.569 --> 00:25:22.369
<v Speaker 5>At least one, it doesn't, obviously it doesn't account for

483
00:25:22.549 --> 00:25:27.400
<v Speaker 5>how much, how difficult this year has been, but it's something. Yeah,

484
00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:32.269
<v Speaker 5>to the question of returning, I know that's like the big,

485
00:25:32.369 --> 00:25:33.750
<v Speaker 5>big question.

486
00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:35.710
<v Speaker 4>I mean, here's how I see it, right?

487
00:25:35.789 --> 00:25:41.809
<v Speaker 5>Like the reinstatement was I am supposed to be reinstated

488
00:25:41.910 --> 00:25:45.910
<v Speaker 5>back to my previous position, which was columnist. And as

489
00:25:45.970 --> 00:25:49.750
<v Speaker 5>a columnist, I was largely free to write about whatever

490
00:25:49.809 --> 00:25:53.740
<v Speaker 5>I wanted to write about. So- I think there's still,

491
00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:57.180
<v Speaker 5>for me, you know, a question, again, there's this expectation,

492
00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:02.220
<v Speaker 5>this is legally binding decision, arbitration, that I should be

493
00:26:02.259 --> 00:26:05.309
<v Speaker 5>restored back to that. I think the big question for

494
00:26:05.769 --> 00:26:08.809
<v Speaker 5>everyone and for me, which I understand, is will I

495
00:26:08.849 --> 00:26:13.289
<v Speaker 5>be allowed to write and say what I want, you know?

496
00:26:13.849 --> 00:26:18.029
<v Speaker 5>So I understand that. Of course, I'm willing to go

497
00:26:18.069 --> 00:26:21.190
<v Speaker 5>back to that work. Journalism is important. Writing is important.

498
00:26:22.740 --> 00:26:25.390
<v Speaker 5>That work, obviously on Substack, I continued as much as

499
00:26:25.450 --> 00:26:29.289
<v Speaker 5>I could to still keep doing that work. But the

500
00:26:29.369 --> 00:26:34.869
<v Speaker 5>question is, what am I going back to and will

501
00:26:34.910 --> 00:26:38.369
<v Speaker 5>I be allowed to have a free voice?

502
00:26:39.210 --> 00:26:39.519
<v Speaker 6>Yeah.

503
00:26:40.059 --> 00:26:42.220
<v Speaker 2>And Karen, I mean, we should remind everybody, I mean,

504
00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.180
<v Speaker 2>you had a stellar career there at the Washington Post.

505
00:26:46.759 --> 00:26:48.980
<v Speaker 2>and this is the Columbia Journalism Review did a story

506
00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:51.289
<v Speaker 2>about you, and they said you were fired over social

507
00:26:51.309 --> 00:26:56.009
<v Speaker 2>media posts about Charlie Kirk, and you went through arbitration.

508
00:26:56.029 --> 00:26:58.450
<v Speaker 2>You're a member of the Washington Baltimore News Guild. You

509
00:26:58.470 --> 00:27:01.289
<v Speaker 2>went through the arbitration process. They ruled in your favor,

510
00:27:02.930 --> 00:27:05.210
<v Speaker 2>and it says here that you worked at the Post

511
00:27:05.230 --> 00:27:08.059
<v Speaker 2>for 11 years. You were hired in 2014 as a

512
00:27:08.220 --> 00:27:10.519
<v Speaker 2>digital producer in the opinion section, and you were the

513
00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:13.450
<v Speaker 2>founding editor of Global Opinions, before.

514
00:27:13.210 --> 00:27:13.970
<v Speaker 1>Becoming a columnist.

515
00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:15.849
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I would think the Washington Post would want

516
00:27:15.950 --> 00:27:17.990
<v Speaker 2>all of that back, but the Washington Post is a

517
00:27:18.019 --> 00:27:20.000
<v Speaker 2>different newspaper right now that's been going through a lot

518
00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:20.559
<v Speaker 2>of turmoil.

519
00:27:21.980 --> 00:27:23.500
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it's a different newspaper.

520
00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:29.220
<v Speaker 5>Even the very person, Adam O'Neill, who fired me, he

521
00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:33.380
<v Speaker 5>has been ousted or pushed out. So even the folks

522
00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:38.329
<v Speaker 5>brought in to really reform, reform is, I'm putting it

523
00:27:38.390 --> 00:27:43.839
<v Speaker 5>very mildly, but to reshape the pages in Bezos' wishes,

524
00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:47.599
<v Speaker 5>have themselves found themselves out of a job, right? So

525
00:27:48.140 --> 00:27:52.140
<v Speaker 5>there's still a lot that I'm, you know, still a

526
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:54.579
<v Speaker 5>lot of question marks, a lot of uncertainty, but yeah,

527
00:27:54.599 --> 00:27:56.660
<v Speaker 5>I did good work. This is my time to say,

528
00:27:56.700 --> 00:28:01.940
<v Speaker 5>you know, it was hard to have my.

529
00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:06.160
<v Speaker 4>My, my work all that time be on trial. And

530
00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:06.559
<v Speaker 4>I get it.

531
00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:08.710
<v Speaker 5>I know a lot of people are like, look, these

532
00:28:08.750 --> 00:28:13.690
<v Speaker 5>are corporations. They don't give a flying F about people.

533
00:28:14.269 --> 00:28:16.450
<v Speaker 5>This is why we have independent media. I get that,

534
00:28:16.549 --> 00:28:19.789
<v Speaker 5>but I'm human, right? Like, and as journalists, we put

535
00:28:19.829 --> 00:28:22.210
<v Speaker 5>so much on the line to do this job.

536
00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:25.099
<v Speaker 4>We don't do it for money. That's for sure. We

537
00:28:25.140 --> 00:28:26.220
<v Speaker 4>don't do it to be popular.

538
00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:29.859
<v Speaker 1>That's no, yeah, that's right.

539
00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:31.000
<v Speaker 6>Yeah.

540
00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:35.059
<v Speaker 5>It was, it was hard to have, The place where

541
00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:40.420
<v Speaker 5>I professionally grew up in so many ways then accused

542
00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:44.859
<v Speaker 5>me of becoming a threat to them, becoming dangerous to them.

543
00:28:45.579 --> 00:28:45.799
<v Speaker 3>Right.

544
00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:48.319
<v Speaker 2>That was one of the crazy and outlandish things that

545
00:28:48.339 --> 00:28:50.220
<v Speaker 2>the Post had said at that time. And it felt

546
00:28:50.279 --> 00:28:53.119
<v Speaker 2>very Trumpy. It felt like they had been infused with

547
00:28:53.140 --> 00:28:56.279
<v Speaker 2>a lot of Trumpiness. And they said that you had

548
00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:59.200
<v Speaker 2>because of what you had put on Blue Sky about

549
00:28:59.240 --> 00:28:59.880
<v Speaker 2>Charlie Kirk.

550
00:29:00.250 --> 00:29:02.470
<v Speaker 1>That that had endangered people at the Washington Post.

551
00:29:02.490 --> 00:29:04.589
<v Speaker 2>And it sounds like the arbitrator just tossed that out

552
00:29:04.630 --> 00:29:09.109
<v Speaker 2>the window and said that that has no merit. But

553
00:29:09.309 --> 00:29:13.799
<v Speaker 2>now that we've had a year to digest all of this,

554
00:29:14.539 --> 00:29:18.359
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I will say that there have been lots

555
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:22.079
<v Speaker 2>of people who have expressed opinions about Charlie Kirk. And

556
00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:25.509
<v Speaker 2>what you were saying in the immediate aftermath of when

557
00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:28.299
<v Speaker 2>he had been killed is is not all that different

558
00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:31.410
<v Speaker 2>than what people still say now. And to me, your

559
00:29:31.509 --> 00:29:34.029
<v Speaker 2>opinion at that time, I didn't find it to be

560
00:29:34.089 --> 00:29:35.029
<v Speaker 2>controversial then.

561
00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:36.809
<v Speaker 1>I don't find it to be controversial now.

562
00:29:37.490 --> 00:29:39.549
<v Speaker 2>And I think if you're going to talk about Charlie Kirk,

563
00:29:39.569 --> 00:29:41.660
<v Speaker 2>you have to talk about the fact that he said a.

564
00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:44.000
<v Speaker 1>Lot of bigoted things. I mean, he just did. You

565
00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:44.480
<v Speaker 1>know what I mean?

566
00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:48.609
<v Speaker 2>I mean, the chief, I think, basis of your complaint

567
00:29:48.630 --> 00:29:52.990
<v Speaker 2>that it's a bit much to lionize somebody who espoused

568
00:29:53.009 --> 00:29:55.650
<v Speaker 2>those kinds of views is That's not going to always

569
00:29:55.690 --> 00:29:58.109
<v Speaker 2>sit well with every community in the United States. I mean,

570
00:29:58.650 --> 00:30:01.039
<v Speaker 2>how can you not give voice to that? People can,

571
00:30:01.670 --> 00:30:03.180
<v Speaker 2>they can put them on a pedestal all they want.

572
00:30:03.259 --> 00:30:05.819
<v Speaker 2>This is America. But you also have a right to

573
00:30:05.859 --> 00:30:08.220
<v Speaker 2>say what you want to say. I still don't understand

574
00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:09.440
<v Speaker 2>how any of that was controversial.

575
00:30:11.259 --> 00:30:13.839
<v Speaker 1>But I'm on your side.

576
00:30:13.960 --> 00:30:17.380
<v Speaker 5>I mean, I think, you know, the close reading, even,

577
00:30:17.420 --> 00:30:21.279
<v Speaker 5>you know, my lawyers who, because it could be the case,

578
00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:23.930
<v Speaker 5>there are plenty of people who have already asked, well,

579
00:30:23.990 --> 00:30:27.369
<v Speaker 5>maybe you should have softened. Maybe you shouldn't have said,

580
00:30:27.730 --> 00:30:31.690
<v Speaker 5>you know, but we'll, we'll, we'll still represent you, you know,

581
00:30:31.769 --> 00:30:36.339
<v Speaker 5>but I think for anybody reasonably reading into it, I

582
00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:39.220
<v Speaker 5>specifically said, and it's the only, it's one of the

583
00:30:39.339 --> 00:30:41.559
<v Speaker 5>very few things I said about Kirk at the time

584
00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:41.880
<v Speaker 5>I was.

585
00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:44.019
<v Speaker 4>Actually talking about America and the.

586
00:30:43.940 --> 00:30:46.779
<v Speaker 5>Political discourse that was going on that day, which everyone

587
00:30:46.819 --> 00:30:49.619
<v Speaker 5>was like, this is, has, political violence has no place here.

588
00:30:49.660 --> 00:30:50.839
<v Speaker 4>This is not who we are.

589
00:30:51.380 --> 00:30:53.960
<v Speaker 5>And I just had to remind people of, we had

590
00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:57.289
<v Speaker 5>a school shooting that very same day. We also had

591
00:30:57.349 --> 00:31:00.730
<v Speaker 5>the Minnesota lawmakers, Melissa Hortman, who had been killed in

592
00:31:00.769 --> 00:31:03.690
<v Speaker 5>her own house a couple of months before. So that

593
00:31:03.730 --> 00:31:08.029
<v Speaker 5>wasn't even the first political assassination that season, I guess.

594
00:31:08.369 --> 00:31:11.470
<v Speaker 5>And so for me, it was, and my job has

595
00:31:11.509 --> 00:31:16.130
<v Speaker 5>always been commentary on America and how we particularly talk

596
00:31:16.190 --> 00:31:21.640
<v Speaker 5>about white men who coddle or who espoused hatred and violence,

597
00:31:21.660 --> 00:31:24.099
<v Speaker 5>whether it was the white man who killed Melissa Hortman

598
00:31:24.140 --> 00:31:28.099
<v Speaker 5>and her husband, or eventually Charlie Kirk, yes, himself, or

599
00:31:28.140 --> 00:31:28.440
<v Speaker 5>even the.

600
00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:31.940
<v Speaker 4>Man who killed, ended up being the one killing Charlie Kirk.

601
00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.019
<v Speaker 1>It was a white guy.

602
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:39.299
<v Speaker 5>So I ended up, yes, being vindicated on those observations

603
00:31:39.339 --> 00:31:42.819
<v Speaker 5>of America's pattern. But yeah, for the Washington Post, you know,

604
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:46.589
<v Speaker 5>this for journalists, we're supposed to be above the fray

605
00:31:46.630 --> 00:31:49.230
<v Speaker 5>in terms of emotions and in terms of we're supposed

606
00:31:49.269 --> 00:31:52.950
<v Speaker 5>to be able to look very objectively at facts, especially

607
00:31:53.009 --> 00:31:57.869
<v Speaker 5>when sometimes that is uncomfortable. And so, yeah, you know,

608
00:31:57.890 --> 00:32:01.470
<v Speaker 5>I mean, I think the Washington Post was just shown

609
00:32:01.569 --> 00:32:02.210
<v Speaker 5>to have.

610
00:32:03.549 --> 00:32:06.130
<v Speaker 4>Really acted quite recklessly.

611
00:32:06.150 --> 00:32:10.250
<v Speaker 5>And they claimed, again, that my posts were such a threat,

612
00:32:10.859 --> 00:32:11.950
<v Speaker 5>even though they never called me.

613
00:32:12.599 --> 00:32:15.359
<v Speaker 4>To warn me about the threats. They never told me

614
00:32:15.380 --> 00:32:15.980
<v Speaker 4>to take them.

615
00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:16.700
<v Speaker 3>Down, actually.

616
00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:21.980
<v Speaker 5>So, you know, you're threatening your colleagues, you're threatening us,

617
00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:23.809
<v Speaker 5>and yet my posts are still up.

618
00:32:24.710 --> 00:32:27.630
<v Speaker 4>So they were really just trying. It wasn't about security.

619
00:32:28.710 --> 00:32:30.970
<v Speaker 5>They were just trying to get rid of me by

620
00:32:31.049 --> 00:32:34.369
<v Speaker 5>any means necessary. And Charlie Kirk was the knife that

621
00:32:34.390 --> 00:32:35.170
<v Speaker 5>they were going to use.

622
00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:37.420
<v Speaker 1>Right.

623
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:40.539
<v Speaker 2>And they did it via email, despite the amount of

624
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:44.250
<v Speaker 2>time you had spent there. Um, you know, I, that

625
00:32:44.269 --> 00:32:48.170
<v Speaker 2>to me was, was, I mean, that, that is not a, um,

626
00:32:48.609 --> 00:32:51.210
<v Speaker 2>a very nice thing to do, obviously a pretty cowardly

627
00:32:51.250 --> 00:32:52.970
<v Speaker 2>thing to do. They didn't want to have you come

628
00:32:53.009 --> 00:32:55.069
<v Speaker 2>in in person and talk to you, but I mean,

629
00:32:55.490 --> 00:33:00.109
<v Speaker 2>can you speak to how in was the Washington post

630
00:33:00.849 --> 00:33:04.390
<v Speaker 2>under Jeff Bezos swept up in a moment that they

631
00:33:04.430 --> 00:33:06.569
<v Speaker 2>can now get beyond?

632
00:33:06.589 --> 00:33:09.509
<v Speaker 1>Is that possible? Can the Washington post be fixed?

633
00:33:09.970 --> 00:33:12.670
<v Speaker 2>Do you think, because I will say I, you know,

634
00:33:12.859 --> 00:33:14.940
<v Speaker 2>and I made a big deal about this last year

635
00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:17.740
<v Speaker 2>when they defended Donald Trump knocking down part of the

636
00:33:17.779 --> 00:33:20.380
<v Speaker 2>white house, there was this editorial that defended that. And

637
00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:22.940
<v Speaker 2>I canceled my subscription live on my show.

638
00:33:23.019 --> 00:33:24.039
<v Speaker 1>I was, I was so pissed off.

639
00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:27.359
<v Speaker 2>I'm a DC guy. And like, that just pissed me off.

640
00:33:27.559 --> 00:33:30.450
<v Speaker 2>Like January six pisses me. There's things that, and for

641
00:33:30.490 --> 00:33:33.890
<v Speaker 2>him to unilaterally bulldoze part of the white house and

642
00:33:33.910 --> 00:33:36.470
<v Speaker 2>the Washington post, the Washington post.

643
00:33:36.630 --> 00:33:38.609
<v Speaker 1>To put out an editorial that says, Oh, well, no

644
00:33:38.630 --> 00:33:39.049
<v Speaker 1>big deal.

645
00:33:39.410 --> 00:33:41.269
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't believe it. And so I canceled my subscription.

646
00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:45.039
<v Speaker 2>I will say that I have seen, I don't want

647
00:33:45.059 --> 00:33:47.160
<v Speaker 2>to call it a return to where they once were,

648
00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:50.160
<v Speaker 2>but I've seen some good reporting there. I've seen some

649
00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:53.160
<v Speaker 2>signs of life from the Washington Post. I'll put it

650
00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:56.170
<v Speaker 2>that way. Do you see that too? Can the Washington

651
00:33:56.210 --> 00:33:59.069
<v Speaker 2>Post be redeemed or is it beyond repair?

652
00:33:59.990 --> 00:34:02.130
<v Speaker 4>Yeah. I mean, a couple of things on that note.

653
00:34:02.190 --> 00:34:07.970
<v Speaker 5>First of all, and I want to be fair and

654
00:34:08.010 --> 00:34:11.690
<v Speaker 5>objective the way that I see it. the Washington Post

655
00:34:11.769 --> 00:34:13.610
<v Speaker 5>and have always seen, I mean, here I'm wearing red

656
00:34:13.989 --> 00:34:16.289
<v Speaker 5>right now, specifically because these are the colors of the

657
00:34:16.349 --> 00:34:20.230
<v Speaker 5>Washington Post guilds. And I would have even had an

658
00:34:20.409 --> 00:34:25.010
<v Speaker 5>opportunity to fight this within the timeframe if it wasn't

659
00:34:25.110 --> 00:34:27.440
<v Speaker 5>for the fact that the Washington Post guild and the

660
00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:33.440
<v Speaker 5>Washington Baltimore News Guild had a grievance procedure and a contract,

661
00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:37.539
<v Speaker 5>a collective bargaining agreement that ultimately that was what the

662
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:41.010
<v Speaker 5>arbitrator ruled that the post was in violation of that contract.

663
00:34:41.030 --> 00:34:44.429
<v Speaker 5>So even going into arbitration, getting to binding arbitration, for me,

664
00:34:45.429 --> 00:34:48.610
<v Speaker 5>returning to the post also means returning to those folks

665
00:34:48.650 --> 00:34:52.949
<v Speaker 5>who were fighting for me, even when I was being silenced.

666
00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:54.719
<v Speaker 4>So I just want to say that.

667
00:34:54.739 --> 00:34:57.039
<v Speaker 5>And then to your point about there is, the news

668
00:34:57.079 --> 00:34:58.920
<v Speaker 5>side has been, and I know this for a fact,

669
00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:03.019
<v Speaker 5>has still been publishing great reporting, despite the fact that

670
00:35:03.340 --> 00:35:07.710
<v Speaker 5>in February, Bezos made a move to cut something like

671
00:35:07.730 --> 00:35:11.929
<v Speaker 5>40-something percent of the newsroom, which was also a boneheaded

672
00:35:12.349 --> 00:35:17.130
<v Speaker 5>and destructive move, right? So, so much of this is

673
00:35:17.250 --> 00:35:20.230
<v Speaker 5>coming from management and coming from leadership. And we even

674
00:35:20.289 --> 00:35:23.230
<v Speaker 5>saw behind the scenes that they were starting to quietly

675
00:35:23.289 --> 00:35:24.389
<v Speaker 5>hire people back.

676
00:35:24.170 --> 00:35:29.889
<v Speaker 4>Because they realized, oops, right?

677
00:35:30.510 --> 00:35:34.400
<v Speaker 5>So that's why like this question of like returning back

678
00:35:34.420 --> 00:35:38.510
<v Speaker 5>to the post, I see I'm not trying to minimize

679
00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:43.099
<v Speaker 5>like the decisions and the direction, the very clear kowtowing

680
00:35:43.139 --> 00:35:45.340
<v Speaker 5>to this moment that.

681
00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:46.300
<v Speaker 4>Everybody has seen.

682
00:35:46.760 --> 00:35:50.219
<v Speaker 5>I guess if there's something that gives me hope or

683
00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:55.030
<v Speaker 5>even considering, it's the fact that there are people who

684
00:35:55.090 --> 00:35:56.909
<v Speaker 5>are willing to at least fight for me. I know

685
00:35:56.929 --> 00:35:59.269
<v Speaker 5>that there are people who are, who are really fighting

686
00:35:59.309 --> 00:36:04.750
<v Speaker 5>to try to cover my story, even at the post. Wow. So, Like,

687
00:36:05.230 --> 00:36:10.409
<v Speaker 5>I'm aware of that. And that being said, yeah, Jim,

688
00:36:10.449 --> 00:36:15.000
<v Speaker 5>I mean, I'm sort of like, okay.

689
00:36:15.019 --> 00:36:17.380
<v Speaker 1>You're still catching your breath.

690
00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:20.300
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it's catching the breath.

691
00:36:20.360 --> 00:36:23.699
<v Speaker 5>But I just found it, you know, and people might

692
00:36:23.739 --> 00:36:27.440
<v Speaker 5>disagree with my logic and reasoning. And, you know, even

693
00:36:27.460 --> 00:36:29.800
<v Speaker 5>last year when all these changes were happening and people

694
00:36:29.820 --> 00:36:31.769
<v Speaker 5>were saying, why didn't you take the buyout? Why didn't

695
00:36:31.809 --> 00:36:35.010
<v Speaker 5>you just take them over? Why didn't you resign? And

696
00:36:35.050 --> 00:36:39.329
<v Speaker 5>I guess I just felt like it was more than

697
00:36:39.369 --> 00:36:43.449
<v Speaker 5>just a job. I think seeing these changes and sort

698
00:36:43.510 --> 00:36:49.519
<v Speaker 5>of running away in anticipation and making it easy for

699
00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:52.980
<v Speaker 5>the silencing to happen, I think in my mind, I

700
00:36:53.019 --> 00:36:58.239
<v Speaker 5>was like, I'm not going to participate in this, not

701
00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:00.239
<v Speaker 5>even my own censorship, but I'm not going to make

702
00:37:00.260 --> 00:37:04.070
<v Speaker 5>it I want to make an example of what it

703
00:37:04.130 --> 00:37:10.269
<v Speaker 5>can look like to try to fight. And that's just A,

704
00:37:10.369 --> 00:37:13.389
<v Speaker 5>who I am, and B, people might know me from

705
00:37:14.329 --> 00:37:18.989
<v Speaker 5>being the editor who recruited Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist

706
00:37:19.010 --> 00:37:22.179
<v Speaker 5>who was murdered in 2018. And I guess my experience

707
00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:26.159
<v Speaker 5>being an editor of people like Jamal, others who've been

708
00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:29.409
<v Speaker 5>jailed for their writing, I'm like, okay, I'm worrying about

709
00:37:29.469 --> 00:37:33.369
<v Speaker 5>a job, HR stuff. I'm like, I've worked with people

710
00:37:33.409 --> 00:37:37.190
<v Speaker 5>who've been killed, who've been jailed, who've been beaten. And

711
00:37:37.210 --> 00:37:43.110
<v Speaker 5>so I guess my relative thinking of what safe is

712
00:37:43.489 --> 00:37:47.599
<v Speaker 5>or what fighting means is very, like I see this,

713
00:37:48.239 --> 00:37:51.940
<v Speaker 5>like they paid the ultimate price. Me losing a job, yes,

714
00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:55.940
<v Speaker 5>it hurts, but it's also like, that's why I fight.

715
00:37:55.980 --> 00:38:00.079
<v Speaker 4>Maybe it's, maybe it's Jamal. I don't know. Like maybe

716
00:38:00.099 --> 00:38:01.110
<v Speaker 4>there's something to it.

717
00:38:01.139 --> 00:38:03.079
<v Speaker 5>I'm just like, of course I am.

718
00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:05.119
<v Speaker 4>I've seen the example of what it looks like when

719
00:38:05.159 --> 00:38:10.670
<v Speaker 4>someone lives out their values to the very fucking end. Uh, right.

720
00:38:10.849 --> 00:38:13.510
<v Speaker 4>So I don't know. Maybe it's, there's something there, I guess.

721
00:38:14.530 --> 00:38:15.110
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely.

722
00:38:15.190 --> 00:38:18.110
<v Speaker 2>And I, you know, I think that's a great message

723
00:38:18.530 --> 00:38:19.969
<v Speaker 2>and a great moral of the story here. And we

724
00:38:19.989 --> 00:38:24.480
<v Speaker 2>should note, uh, Norm Eisen and his folks helped you

725
00:38:24.500 --> 00:38:27.920
<v Speaker 2>through this process. And it is worth highlighting that you

726
00:38:28.340 --> 00:38:32.119
<v Speaker 2>fought through the arbitration process to get your job back.

727
00:38:32.179 --> 00:38:35.699
<v Speaker 2>You fought against the Washington Post and you won, which,

728
00:38:35.860 --> 00:38:37.659
<v Speaker 2>you know, not a lot of people can say. So

729
00:38:38.260 --> 00:38:40.699
<v Speaker 2>that is a good thing. That is a very good thing.

730
00:38:40.739 --> 00:38:42.510
<v Speaker 2>And it should be I think I think it should

731
00:38:42.530 --> 00:38:45.769
<v Speaker 2>be celebrated. So kudos to you. But I wonder, Karen,

732
00:38:46.210 --> 00:38:47.469
<v Speaker 2>and this goes to a little bit of what you're

733
00:38:47.510 --> 00:38:50.250
<v Speaker 2>saying earlier. I mean, it's wonderful that you have perspective.

734
00:38:50.809 --> 00:38:53.710
<v Speaker 2>and all of this and Jamal, you know, and other

735
00:38:53.750 --> 00:38:56.469
<v Speaker 2>examples have, have shown you kind of the light in

736
00:38:56.489 --> 00:39:00.159
<v Speaker 2>the way, but it seems to me that the, the

737
00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:04.500
<v Speaker 2>construct is broken, that, that American media are broken.

738
00:39:05.099 --> 00:39:06.599
<v Speaker 1>The legacy corporate.

739
00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:11.719
<v Speaker 2>Media, billionaires owning, owning news institutions like the Washington Post,

740
00:39:12.340 --> 00:39:16.420
<v Speaker 2>that whole system ain't working anymore in this country. It

741
00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:18.449
<v Speaker 2>seems to me your thoughts on that. I know it's

742
00:39:18.469 --> 00:39:20.820
<v Speaker 2>a very big subject, but, What do you think?

743
00:39:21.980 --> 00:39:24.159
<v Speaker 4>I do think it's, I do think a lot is broken.

744
00:39:24.179 --> 00:39:28.250
<v Speaker 5>I mean, and I'm not even, I can't even say

745
00:39:28.289 --> 00:39:31.260
<v Speaker 5>that I think me going back there. fixes any of

746
00:39:31.300 --> 00:39:35.579
<v Speaker 5>this systemic thing, which is why, like I said, there's

747
00:39:35.619 --> 00:39:39.820
<v Speaker 5>some conversations that we need to actually have before, you know,

748
00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:44.099
<v Speaker 5>like I've said, I'm willing to go back to this work.

749
00:39:44.219 --> 00:39:49.239
<v Speaker 5>But I mean, what particularly this year has shown me

750
00:39:49.300 --> 00:39:52.800
<v Speaker 5>and shown all of us is the power of independent media,

751
00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:56.500
<v Speaker 5>the power of, like, people are, people have seen the

752
00:39:56.519 --> 00:40:00.610
<v Speaker 5>mainstream media for what it is. People have seen the bowing, even,

753
00:40:00.650 --> 00:40:04.489
<v Speaker 5>and you mentioned Norm Eisen and his team at Democracy Defenders.

754
00:40:04.530 --> 00:40:05.909
<v Speaker 4>Also, shout out to Craig Jenkins.

755
00:40:05.949 --> 00:40:10.070
<v Speaker 5>Who gave real direct legal support that these, whether it's

756
00:40:10.090 --> 00:40:15.130
<v Speaker 5>the Paramount merger, whether it's the attacks against PBS, whether

757
00:40:15.150 --> 00:40:20.210
<v Speaker 5>it's the lawsuits that We have mainstream.

758
00:40:18.849 --> 00:40:19.750
<v Speaker 4>Media that is.

759
00:40:21.650 --> 00:40:25.760
<v Speaker 5>Willing to crumble and willing to assemble under rich and

760
00:40:25.780 --> 00:40:26.780
<v Speaker 5>powerful interests.

761
00:40:27.480 --> 00:40:30.480
<v Speaker 4>And so, yeah, I think there's a tension, at least.

762
00:40:30.699 --> 00:40:35.199
<v Speaker 5>For me, in the sense that, I mean, the very

763
00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:37.599
<v Speaker 5>fact that I was even able to weather the storm

764
00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:40.059
<v Speaker 5>for a year and not starve, frankly.

765
00:40:40.090 --> 00:40:41.409
<v Speaker 4>Was because of.

766
00:40:44.059 --> 00:40:46.619
<v Speaker 5>Being able to have Substack was because of being able

767
00:40:46.659 --> 00:40:50.639
<v Speaker 5>to have an independent platform. So I know a lot

768
00:40:50.659 --> 00:40:54.110
<v Speaker 5>of people are asking what's going to happen to my Substack.

769
00:40:54.590 --> 00:40:58.469
<v Speaker 4>I'm not letting it go, for sure. There you go. No,

770
00:40:58.489 --> 00:40:58.989
<v Speaker 4>not at all.

771
00:40:59.090 --> 00:41:01.070
<v Speaker 5>So like I said, there's a lot we got to

772
00:41:01.110 --> 00:41:03.960
<v Speaker 5>hash out, but I see no reason. I think, not

773
00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:07.940
<v Speaker 5>only that, but mainstream media would be smart. to see

774
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:10.360
<v Speaker 5>where the winds are going. And yet they're holding on

775
00:41:10.420 --> 00:41:14.440
<v Speaker 5>to a status quo that is proven not only economically

776
00:41:14.539 --> 00:41:19.739
<v Speaker 5>not working, but also in terms of morally, structurally, people

777
00:41:19.780 --> 00:41:22.380
<v Speaker 5>are like, if your job is to tell the truth,

778
00:41:22.880 --> 00:41:25.949
<v Speaker 5>why are you guys partnering with AI companies and putting

779
00:41:26.280 --> 00:41:30.150
<v Speaker 5>digital slop in your news stories? Why are you guys,

780
00:41:30.449 --> 00:41:33.670
<v Speaker 5>you're supposed to hold truth or speak truth to power.

781
00:41:34.050 --> 00:41:37.880
<v Speaker 5>Why are you running scared from not only Trump, but

782
00:41:37.940 --> 00:41:40.099
<v Speaker 5>scared from libs of TikTok in.

783
00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:41.420
<v Speaker 4>My case, right?

784
00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:41.739
<v Speaker 1>Yes.

785
00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:46.119
<v Speaker 5>People are looking for bravery and people are looking for

786
00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:52.179
<v Speaker 5>just honesty. So I have a lot to really, I'm

787
00:41:52.219 --> 00:41:54.349
<v Speaker 5>glad for this win. I'm very glad for this win.

788
00:41:54.369 --> 00:41:55.429
<v Speaker 5>I'm very glad.

789
00:41:55.269 --> 00:41:58.829
<v Speaker 4>For the option, but there's a lot that I still have.

790
00:41:58.690 --> 00:42:02.130
<v Speaker 5>To really, really, really, really think about in terms of

791
00:42:03.329 --> 00:42:06.889
<v Speaker 5>I did have, I still have, you know, just this,

792
00:42:07.710 --> 00:42:11.610
<v Speaker 5>this freedom to be good.

793
00:42:12.250 --> 00:42:16.699
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I know, you know, I love it. And maybe,

794
00:42:16.820 --> 00:42:17.280
<v Speaker 4>maybe I.

795
00:42:17.239 --> 00:42:19.900
<v Speaker 5>Just, like I said, I mean, I'm not giving up

796
00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:22.079
<v Speaker 5>a sub stack. I'm not going to give up the

797
00:42:22.139 --> 00:42:25.500
<v Speaker 5>things that I built in this, in this year.

798
00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:29.719
<v Speaker 4>But, but yeah, I mean, we have to also look

799
00:42:29.820 --> 00:42:34.000
<v Speaker 4>at where, where can we do our best work?

800
00:42:34.519 --> 00:42:39.579
<v Speaker 5>So my thought is, Can I do my best work

801
00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:43.829
<v Speaker 5>at this Washington Post?

802
00:42:43.929 --> 00:42:44.250
<v Speaker 6>Right.

803
00:42:44.329 --> 00:42:47.289
<v Speaker 1>That is the ultimate question. Well, Karen, I mean, you're

804
00:42:47.309 --> 00:42:48.250
<v Speaker 1>doing your job as a reporter.

805
00:42:48.269 --> 00:42:50.829
<v Speaker 2>You're asking good questions, not only of what's happening in

806
00:42:50.849 --> 00:42:52.489
<v Speaker 2>the world, but of yourself and what you should.

807
00:42:52.349 --> 00:42:54.809
<v Speaker 1>Do in this moment. But please keep us posted. Let

808
00:42:54.849 --> 00:42:56.949
<v Speaker 1>us know what you do, what you end up doing.

809
00:42:57.269 --> 00:43:01.079
<v Speaker 2>And thank you for the example that you set over

810
00:43:01.139 --> 00:43:04.039
<v Speaker 2>the last year. When I woke up, I think I

811
00:43:04.139 --> 00:43:07.170
<v Speaker 2>woke up to the headlines. that this had happened in

812
00:43:07.210 --> 00:43:10.829
<v Speaker 2>your favor. And I was, I was just absolutely overjoyed

813
00:43:10.949 --> 00:43:15.929
<v Speaker 2>and hysterically happy for you. So kudos to you and

814
00:43:16.769 --> 00:43:19.489
<v Speaker 2>Jeff Bezos. I hope you, you know, I hope somehow

815
00:43:19.530 --> 00:43:21.449
<v Speaker 2>you see this and think long and hard about what

816
00:43:21.750 --> 00:43:24.429
<v Speaker 2>you've done to the Washington post because people like Karen

817
00:43:24.449 --> 00:43:27.289
<v Speaker 2>should be at the post doing great work every day.

818
00:43:28.690 --> 00:43:30.369
<v Speaker 2>And Karen, I just want to thank you for what

819
00:43:30.389 --> 00:43:32.510
<v Speaker 2>you and check out Karen substack, the golden hour.

820
00:43:32.550 --> 00:43:33.610
<v Speaker 1>It's terrific.

821
00:43:34.409 --> 00:43:34.880
<v Speaker 4>Thank you.

822
00:43:34.949 --> 00:43:39.119
<v Speaker 5>I'll still be, Updating everyone on the saga, on the

823
00:43:39.179 --> 00:43:44.219
<v Speaker 5>behind the scenes. And, you know, if, when, walk through

824
00:43:44.260 --> 00:43:47.619
<v Speaker 5>those doors, I'll let everyone know.

825
00:43:48.320 --> 00:43:50.449
<v Speaker 1>I know. And you might be in red.

826
00:43:51.769 --> 00:43:53.769
<v Speaker 4>I'm going to be wearing red for, I think, a

827
00:43:53.809 --> 00:43:54.690
<v Speaker 4>long time.

828
00:43:54.750 --> 00:43:57.750
<v Speaker 5>I don't, like, A, it looks good on me. B, like,

829
00:43:57.889 --> 00:44:00.030
<v Speaker 5>you know, like I said, guild strong.

830
00:44:00.050 --> 00:44:01.309
<v Speaker 1>Again, shout out to the guild.

831
00:44:01.869 --> 00:44:02.190
<v Speaker 4>I love it.

832
00:44:03.550 --> 00:44:03.960
<v Speaker 1>I love it.

833
00:44:03.989 --> 00:44:06.429
<v Speaker 2>We need some good old-fashioned unions coming back in this country,

834
00:44:06.489 --> 00:44:07.110
<v Speaker 2>I tell you.

835
00:44:07.130 --> 00:44:08.349
<v Speaker 1>Guilds, unions, all of that.

836
00:44:08.869 --> 00:44:12.210
<v Speaker 4>This is a huge labor movement victory.

837
00:44:12.809 --> 00:44:15.630
<v Speaker 5>There are very few guilds and unions that can say

838
00:44:15.650 --> 00:44:18.690
<v Speaker 5>they took on one of Jeff Bezos' companies and won.

839
00:44:19.409 --> 00:44:25.380
<v Speaker 5>So this is pretty monumental. So I hope that this is,

840
00:44:25.719 --> 00:44:27.119
<v Speaker 5>you know, back to your point, and I know you

841
00:44:27.139 --> 00:44:29.889
<v Speaker 5>have to go, but This is why I hope tomorrow,

842
00:44:29.909 --> 00:44:32.989
<v Speaker 5>you know, to be covering the labor, the union aspect

843
00:44:33.050 --> 00:44:35.489
<v Speaker 5>of this, because I think if there's going to be

844
00:44:35.530 --> 00:44:38.969
<v Speaker 5>a saving grace to mainstream and corporate media, this is

845
00:44:39.010 --> 00:44:44.860
<v Speaker 5>an example of solidarity. Unions of like it was the

846
00:44:45.019 --> 00:44:49.179
<v Speaker 5>union handing out flyers, protesting like the only reason I

847
00:44:49.219 --> 00:44:54.110
<v Speaker 5>had a fighting chance against Washington Post was because I

848
00:44:54.829 --> 00:44:55.550
<v Speaker 5>had a union.

849
00:44:56.050 --> 00:44:56.409
<v Speaker 4>So, yeah.

850
00:44:57.190 --> 00:45:00.469
<v Speaker 2>That is so great to hear. Well, Karen, good for you.

851
00:45:00.639 --> 00:45:02.840
<v Speaker 2>Keep on fighting the good fight. Keep us posted what

852
00:45:02.860 --> 00:45:04.199
<v Speaker 2>you do next. It's great to see you.

853
00:45:04.219 --> 00:45:06.659
<v Speaker 4>Thank you, Jim. Thank you so much.

854
00:45:07.260 --> 00:45:09.039
<v Speaker 1>Thanks, Karen. All right. Congratulations.

855
00:45:09.860 --> 00:45:12.679
<v Speaker 2>The wonderful Karen Atiyah. And, you know, that is kind

856
00:45:12.699 --> 00:45:16.760
<v Speaker 2>of when you think about it, that is that's a

857
00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:20.150
<v Speaker 2>statement there. She took on a Jeff Bezos company and

858
00:45:20.329 --> 00:45:23.829
<v Speaker 2>won and she did it with a union, with a guild,

859
00:45:23.849 --> 00:45:26.639
<v Speaker 2>with the newspaper guild. helping her along the way. My

860
00:45:26.699 --> 00:45:30.960
<v Speaker 2>dad was in a grocery workers union. You know, you

861
00:45:30.980 --> 00:45:34.099
<v Speaker 2>don't have that many unions around anymore. And look what's

862
00:45:34.119 --> 00:45:37.510
<v Speaker 2>happening in America. Workers are getting the shaft. Workers are

863
00:45:37.530 --> 00:45:41.389
<v Speaker 2>getting screwed. It's harder and harder to get by these

864
00:45:41.429 --> 00:45:43.989
<v Speaker 2>days because you have a lot of giant companies and

865
00:45:44.010 --> 00:45:45.969
<v Speaker 2>a lot of giant oligarchs.

866
00:45:45.869 --> 00:45:48.409
<v Speaker 1>That have taken over just about every facet of our lives.

867
00:45:48.750 --> 00:45:50.989
<v Speaker 2>And are they making our lives any better or are

868
00:45:51.010 --> 00:45:52.960
<v Speaker 2>they making them worse? It seems to me that they're

869
00:45:52.980 --> 00:45:56.869
<v Speaker 2>making them a whole lot worse. Um, and so congrats

870
00:45:56.889 --> 00:45:59.050
<v Speaker 2>to Karen for that. And she made this comment that

871
00:45:59.090 --> 00:46:01.980
<v Speaker 2>made me think about this gentleman I ran into at

872
00:46:02.019 --> 00:46:05.139
<v Speaker 2>the gym. He, you know, Karen was talking about, uh, the,

873
00:46:05.219 --> 00:46:07.340
<v Speaker 2>the joy of being independent and being able to do

874
00:46:07.380 --> 00:46:08.960
<v Speaker 2>what she wants to do on her sub stack.

875
00:46:09.019 --> 00:46:10.599
<v Speaker 1>And it's, it's one of the reasons why I.

876
00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:13.989
<v Speaker 2>Love sub stack, love independent media, love being on YouTube, Apple,

877
00:46:14.510 --> 00:46:17.090
<v Speaker 2>even on Elon Musk's. They haven't kicked me off of X.

878
00:46:17.150 --> 00:46:19.010
<v Speaker 2>I'm on X right now. They haven't kicked me off.

879
00:46:19.909 --> 00:46:21.550
<v Speaker 2>They may be throttling me, but I don't know.

880
00:46:21.590 --> 00:46:22.429
<v Speaker 1>They haven't kicked me off.

881
00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:25.139
<v Speaker 2>And I like being able to come on and do

882
00:46:25.179 --> 00:46:27.860
<v Speaker 2>what I want to do and say what I want

883
00:46:27.900 --> 00:46:31.110
<v Speaker 2>to say and have the guests on that I want

884
00:46:31.130 --> 00:46:33.130
<v Speaker 2>to have on. I can have Mary Trump come on

885
00:46:33.190 --> 00:46:37.809
<v Speaker 2>and she can, you know, kick, you know, Don Jr.

886
00:46:37.849 --> 00:46:41.510
<v Speaker 2>and Jared and Ivanka in the shins and free speech.

887
00:46:41.570 --> 00:46:43.840
<v Speaker 2>We all get to do what we want and say

888
00:46:43.880 --> 00:46:48.239
<v Speaker 2>what we have to say. And it's reminding me, I

889
00:46:48.800 --> 00:46:50.880
<v Speaker 2>was at the gym yesterday.

890
00:46:50.900 --> 00:46:52.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm trying to go to the gym more and more, folks.

891
00:46:52.300 --> 00:46:54.099
<v Speaker 1>I'm getting old. I got to stay in good shape.

892
00:46:54.860 --> 00:46:57.260
<v Speaker 2>And a man came up to me and sometimes I

893
00:46:57.300 --> 00:46:58.840
<v Speaker 2>don't know whether it's a good thing or it's going

894
00:46:58.860 --> 00:47:00.849
<v Speaker 2>to be a bad thing. Sometimes they, you know, there

895
00:47:00.869 --> 00:47:02.309
<v Speaker 2>was this Trump guy that came up to me at

896
00:47:02.329 --> 00:47:04.550
<v Speaker 2>the gym the other day and I was like, get

897
00:47:04.630 --> 00:47:04.909
<v Speaker 2>out of here.

898
00:47:04.929 --> 00:47:07.570
<v Speaker 1>What are we talking about here? Anyway, not talking about

899
00:47:07.590 --> 00:47:08.769
<v Speaker 1>that guy. Different guy comes up.

900
00:47:08.710 --> 00:47:10.329
<v Speaker 2>To me and he says, I just want you to

901
00:47:10.369 --> 00:47:12.840
<v Speaker 2>know that I really liked it when you described Pete

902
00:47:12.860 --> 00:47:15.900
<v Speaker 2>Hegseth as the secretary of douchebaggery the other day.

903
00:47:15.940 --> 00:47:17.559
<v Speaker 1>And I was like, oh yeah, I did do that.

904
00:47:17.619 --> 00:47:18.420
<v Speaker 1>That was pretty fun.

905
00:47:18.920 --> 00:47:21.360
<v Speaker 2>And there's no fucking way I would have been able

906
00:47:21.380 --> 00:47:21.880
<v Speaker 2>to do that.

907
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:23.679
<v Speaker 1>Anywhere else than right here.

908
00:47:24.659 --> 00:47:27.840
<v Speaker 2>And so I will say that it is to see

909
00:47:28.039 --> 00:47:31.380
<v Speaker 2>people take on these corporate titans, to see people take

910
00:47:31.579 --> 00:47:35.539
<v Speaker 2>on these giant oligarchs and win. It's a lesson for

911
00:47:35.800 --> 00:47:38.869
<v Speaker 2>all of us folks. It is a reason to have hope.

912
00:47:39.349 --> 00:47:41.130
<v Speaker 2>And I was talking about this at the beginning of

913
00:47:41.170 --> 00:47:43.210
<v Speaker 2>the show, and I'm going to talk about it here

914
00:47:43.230 --> 00:47:44.949
<v Speaker 2>at the end of the show. And I'm going to

915
00:47:44.969 --> 00:47:46.849
<v Speaker 2>drive everybody nuts because I'm going to talk about it

916
00:47:46.889 --> 00:47:48.190
<v Speaker 2>between now and November 3rd.

917
00:47:48.230 --> 00:47:50.280
<v Speaker 1>The steel is on. The steel is on.

918
00:47:53.239 --> 00:47:55.739
<v Speaker 2>This is not Donald Trump threatens to do this or

919
00:47:56.079 --> 00:48:00.980
<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump may do this. He is now intervening in

920
00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:04.360
<v Speaker 2>the election cycle. It is happening right now. It is

921
00:48:04.420 --> 00:48:07.610
<v Speaker 2>occurring as we are all speaking at this very moment.

922
00:48:08.139 --> 00:48:11.809
<v Speaker 2>He is attempting to restrict mail-in voting in this country.

923
00:48:11.909 --> 00:48:13.769
<v Speaker 2>As Mary Trump told me just a short while ago,

924
00:48:13.789 --> 00:48:17.289
<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump himself engages in mail-in voting.

925
00:48:17.530 --> 00:48:20.489
<v Speaker 1>He wants mail voting for me, but not for thee.

926
00:48:20.510 --> 00:48:26.280
<v Speaker 1>And It is anti-democratic. It is un-American.

927
00:48:26.719 --> 00:48:28.500
<v Speaker 2>It is now filtering down to the rest of the

928
00:48:28.559 --> 00:48:32.260
<v Speaker 2>Republican Party and MAGA. You have a candidate for governor

929
00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:35.300
<v Speaker 2>in Maine. We don't talk about Maine enough. We're going

930
00:48:35.320 --> 00:48:37.460
<v Speaker 2>to talk about Maine a lot between now and November 3rd.

931
00:48:37.820 --> 00:48:41.760
<v Speaker 2>Susan Collins is running for re-election for the 18,000th time.

932
00:48:42.960 --> 00:48:45.099
<v Speaker 2>And somebody is trying to stop her, Troy Jackson, the

933
00:48:45.139 --> 00:48:51.400
<v Speaker 2>Democrat there. The candidate for governor in Maine, Republican, said today,

934
00:48:51.909 --> 00:48:55.510
<v Speaker 2>that he wants ice at the polls in Maine.

935
00:48:56.170 --> 00:48:58.110
<v Speaker 1>Why do you need ice at the polls in Maine?

936
00:48:58.139 --> 00:49:00.559
<v Speaker 2>You don't need ice at the polls in Maine other

937
00:49:00.599 --> 00:49:05.599
<v Speaker 2>than to try to intimidate and bully certain communities in

938
00:49:05.619 --> 00:49:10.119
<v Speaker 2>this country, Latino communities, I assume, and try to stop

939
00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:12.489
<v Speaker 2>them from voting in this country.

940
00:49:12.570 --> 00:49:16.289
<v Speaker 1>And I will say, we're not going to let that happen.

941
00:49:17.269 --> 00:49:21.380
<v Speaker 2>We're not going to let that happen. And And Jared Kushner,

942
00:49:21.389 --> 00:49:23.800
<v Speaker 2>you could try to meet with everybody under the sun

943
00:49:23.909 --> 00:49:24.920
<v Speaker 2>in the Democratic Party.

944
00:49:24.960 --> 00:49:28.699
<v Speaker 1>You could try to, hey, buddy, hey, pal, let's get together,

945
00:49:28.820 --> 00:49:31.860
<v Speaker 1>have a drink, buy a dinner, let's.

946
00:49:31.739 --> 00:49:37.440
<v Speaker 2>Meet behind closed doors, whatever corrupt, ridiculous.

947
00:49:36.920 --> 00:49:40.510
<v Speaker 1>Bullshit you are trying to pull. It ain't going to work.

948
00:49:41.360 --> 00:49:45.969
<v Speaker 2>It's not going to work. Donald Trump is underwater in

949
00:49:45.969 --> 00:49:50.030
<v Speaker 2>47 states and the District of Columbia right now. He

950
00:49:50.070 --> 00:49:55.170
<v Speaker 2>calls all these things fake polls, but he has nothing

951
00:49:55.289 --> 00:49:57.929
<v Speaker 2>left but to try to interfere in these elections. And

952
00:49:57.969 --> 00:49:59.300
<v Speaker 2>that's why I said it yesterday. I'm going to say

953
00:49:59.320 --> 00:50:02.039
<v Speaker 2>it again today. You've got to make it your job

954
00:50:02.360 --> 00:50:04.880
<v Speaker 2>to vote. You've got to make it your job to

955
00:50:04.920 --> 00:50:06.780
<v Speaker 2>make a planned vote. And this is the guy, he

956
00:50:07.860 --> 00:50:11.949
<v Speaker 2>thinks right now, that he's accomplished his mission in Iran.

957
00:50:13.099 --> 00:50:17.480
<v Speaker 2>He put out a true social post today that shows

958
00:50:17.559 --> 00:50:18.099
<v Speaker 2>George W.

959
00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:20.769
<v Speaker 1>Bush, mission not accomplished, making fun of George. Yeah, George W.

960
00:50:20.780 --> 00:50:22.739
<v Speaker 2>Bush should have never put that flag on that aircraft

961
00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:24.239
<v Speaker 2>carrier during the Iraq war.

962
00:50:24.679 --> 00:50:25.699
<v Speaker 1>That was a massive blunder.

963
00:50:26.099 --> 00:50:29.619
<v Speaker 2>But isn't this Donald Trump's mission accomplished moment?

964
00:50:30.179 --> 00:50:32.659
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. Will this be on the nightly news tonight?

965
00:50:33.219 --> 00:50:37.329
<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump standing over an aircraft carrier with an American flag,

966
00:50:37.650 --> 00:50:41.630
<v Speaker 2>And it says mission accomplished 2026. I guess he's talking

967
00:50:41.650 --> 00:50:43.190
<v Speaker 2>about because he took out the EITOLA there.

968
00:50:43.869 --> 00:50:47.110
<v Speaker 1>You have not accomplished any mission in Iran. Iran is

969
00:50:47.139 --> 00:50:49.860
<v Speaker 1>still a shit show. The Strait of Hormuz is still

970
00:50:49.900 --> 00:50:50.539
<v Speaker 1>a shit show.

971
00:50:51.579 --> 00:50:54.820
<v Speaker 2>You can't even get the reflecting pool right. You're nowhere

972
00:50:54.880 --> 00:50:58.900
<v Speaker 2>near getting the Strait of Hormuz under control. And gas

973
00:50:59.639 --> 00:51:00.420
<v Speaker 2>is through the roof.

974
00:51:01.320 --> 00:51:04.070
<v Speaker 1>I had gas buddy on yesterday. It is the highest.

975
00:51:04.889 --> 00:51:07.489
<v Speaker 2>The prices are at their highest at the latest point.

976
00:51:08.010 --> 00:51:10.889
<v Speaker 2>that we know of since people started paying attention to

977
00:51:10.909 --> 00:51:14.809
<v Speaker 2>what the price of gas was and, and people are

978
00:51:14.849 --> 00:51:17.409
<v Speaker 2>feeling it. And so just take a look at this,

979
00:51:17.489 --> 00:51:22.809
<v Speaker 2>absorb that, absorb the insanity of this true social post,

980
00:51:22.849 --> 00:51:27.210
<v Speaker 2>this bullshit, true social posts, the Orwellian truth, social website

981
00:51:27.250 --> 00:51:30.559
<v Speaker 2>of Donald Trump. He's trying to, he's trying to, he's

982
00:51:30.579 --> 00:51:33.000
<v Speaker 2>trying to get us to believe it's not even Orwellian.

983
00:51:33.119 --> 00:51:36.460
<v Speaker 1>It's just stupid. It's just insane. It's just bullshit.

984
00:51:36.880 --> 00:51:44.300
<v Speaker 2>Nobody believes this, that he's accomplished anything. It's clownish, stupid,

985
00:51:44.739 --> 00:51:49.739
<v Speaker 2>insane behavior. But that's all he's left with, memes and

986
00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:54.449
<v Speaker 2>election meddling. That's all he can do right now. And

987
00:51:54.530 --> 00:51:58.130
<v Speaker 2>this applies to the little asswipe incels in the social

988
00:51:58.170 --> 00:52:03.710
<v Speaker 2>media department. All they can resort to are stupid memes. Folks,

989
00:52:04.489 --> 00:52:07.690
<v Speaker 2>this is the best news. that all of us could

990
00:52:07.750 --> 00:52:12.489
<v Speaker 2>possibly ever have. It means that the truth is coming.

991
00:52:13.389 --> 00:52:18.099
<v Speaker 2>It means that accountability is coming. It means that democracy

992
00:52:18.219 --> 00:52:22.019
<v Speaker 2>is coming. All of it is coming for Donald Trump,

993
00:52:22.099 --> 00:52:23.579
<v Speaker 2>and we just have to hang in there for, what,

994
00:52:23.579 --> 00:52:24.980
<v Speaker 2>69 more days?

995
00:52:25.980 --> 00:52:27.960
<v Speaker 1>That's your job. Your job is to.

996
00:52:27.949 --> 00:52:30.889
<v Speaker 2>Hang in there for 69 more days, and then your

997
00:52:30.969 --> 00:52:34.010
<v Speaker 2>job is to get out there and vote. Don't let

998
00:52:34.050 --> 00:52:35.730
<v Speaker 2>them take that mail-in ballot away from you.

999
00:52:37.739 --> 00:52:41.210
<v Speaker 1>Find a way. Call that buddy down the street. Call

1000
00:52:41.230 --> 00:52:42.590
<v Speaker 1>your Aunt Edna. Call your kids.

1001
00:52:42.889 --> 00:52:44.469
<v Speaker 2>Harass somebody to get you to the polls if you

1002
00:52:44.489 --> 00:52:46.769
<v Speaker 2>have a problem getting to the polls. But make it

1003
00:52:46.809 --> 00:52:49.909
<v Speaker 2>your job to vote. Make it your job to resist.

1004
00:52:50.590 --> 00:52:53.869
<v Speaker 2>Make it your job to hang in there. That's what

1005
00:52:53.929 --> 00:52:55.829
<v Speaker 2>I've been doing. That's what a lot of us have

1006
00:52:55.849 --> 00:52:57.719
<v Speaker 2>been doing. We've got to keep on doing it. We've

1007
00:52:57.739 --> 00:53:00.340
<v Speaker 2>got to keep on keeping on, folks. My thanks to

1008
00:53:00.360 --> 00:53:02.400
<v Speaker 2>Mary Trump today. My thanks to Karen Atiyah. My thanks

1009
00:53:02.440 --> 00:53:05.119
<v Speaker 2>to all of you. Please support independent media. Please check

1010
00:53:05.199 --> 00:53:09.239
<v Speaker 2>out our daily newsletter, the Jim Acosta Morning Memo. It's

1011
00:53:09.280 --> 00:53:13.260
<v Speaker 2>available to paid subscribers on both Substack and YouTube. And

1012
00:53:13.300 --> 00:53:16.199
<v Speaker 2>make sure you share, you like, you subscribe when you

1013
00:53:16.219 --> 00:53:18.820
<v Speaker 2>watch this episode, whether you're watching it on Substack, YouTube,

1014
00:53:19.079 --> 00:53:22.489
<v Speaker 2>listening to Apple Podcasts. Get out there, support independent media

1015
00:53:22.510 --> 00:53:24.449
<v Speaker 2>so we can continue to bring stories like this, the

1016
00:53:24.570 --> 00:53:26.349
<v Speaker 2>guests that we have on the show, the things that

1017
00:53:26.389 --> 00:53:29.610
<v Speaker 2>we're allowed to say. All of this is possible because

1018
00:53:29.650 --> 00:53:32.840
<v Speaker 2>of folks like you. So if you become a paid subscriber,

1019
00:53:32.860 --> 00:53:35.409
<v Speaker 2>you get immediate access to our brand new daily newsletter.

1020
00:53:35.429 --> 00:53:38.429
<v Speaker 2>It's available on Substack and on YouTube posts. Yes, you

1021
00:53:38.469 --> 00:53:42.690
<v Speaker 2>can read stuff on YouTube and not just watch videos

1022
00:53:42.889 --> 00:53:45.860
<v Speaker 2>like our show every day. You can also read our

1023
00:53:45.880 --> 00:53:48.460
<v Speaker 2>terrific new newsletter as well. But in the meantime, still

1024
00:53:48.500 --> 00:53:50.199
<v Speaker 2>reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta.

1025
00:53:50.260 --> 00:53:52.840
<v Speaker 1>Make it your job. Your job is to go vote.

1026
00:53:52.880 --> 00:53:54.280
<v Speaker 1>Make it your job. I'll see you next time.