The First (and Last?) Debate

This episode of "Pod Save America" centers on the impending presidential debate, touching on strategies, expected performances, and the broader implications for democracy and the upcoming election.

1. The debate is seen as a crucial moment in the campaign, potentially shaping the election's direction.
2. Effective debate preparation and strategy are emphasized, especially the importance of connecting with the electorate rather than focusing solely on the opponent.
3. The hosts discuss the roles and responsibilities of debate moderators in managing the discourse and fact-checking.
4. The episode explores the broader implications of the debate for democracy, emphasizing the need for candidates to articulate clear visions for the future.
5. Stacey Abrams' participation as a guest host adds depth to the discussion, providing an insider's view on debate strategies and voter engagement.

1: Introduction

The hosts introduce the episode's theme and set the stage for a detailed discussion on the upcoming presidential debate. They outline the significance of the debate in the current political climate. Jon Favreau: "Welcome to Pod Save America, where we're gearing up for a crucial moment in American politics."

2: Debate Dynamics

This section delves into the expected dynamics between the debaters, discussing their previous encounters and how past performances might influence this one. Dan Pfeiffer: "We need to look at how these candidates have engaged with each other historically to gauge what might happen on that stage."

3: Strategic Analysis

Stacey Abrams and the hosts analyze potential strategies both debaters might use to win over voters, emphasizing the importance of messaging and public perception. Stacey Abrams: "It's not just about what's been done; it's about what can be done. This debate is an opportunity to showcase that."

4: Role of Moderators

Discussion on the role of moderators in ensuring a fair debate, including the challenges of live fact-checking and handling contentious interactions. Dan Pfeiffer: "Moderators have a tough job. They need to balance facilitating discussion with ensuring the candidates are held accountable."

5: Implications for Democracy

The hosts reflect on the debate's implications for democracy, stressing the need for a robust and respectful exchange to maintain public trust in the democratic process. Jon Favreau: "This isn't just about who wins or loses the debate; it's about how we conduct our democracy."

1. Stay Informed: Engage with multiple news sources to get a well-rounded view of the debate topics.
2. Fact-Check: Utilize reputable fact-checking organizations to verify claims made during the debate.
3. Engage Politically: Consider how the debate topics align with your own views and how they might impact your voting decisions.
4. Discuss and Debate: Use the debate as a springboard for discussions with peers to foster a deeper understanding of the issues.
5. Vote: Remember that debates are a crucial part of the democratic process, and your vote is a direct response to what you've learned.

The first debate is upon us, and you’re not the only one feeling nervous. Guest host Stacey Abrams joins Jon, Jon, Tommy, and Dan, live in Brooklyn, to talk about what we can learn from the 2020 debates, and what would constitute a win for Biden on Thursday night. Then, Strict Scrutiny’s Melissa Murray joins the hosts to break down the latest from the Supreme Court and what’s still to come this term, and Run for Something co-founder Amanda Litman talks with Dan about why it’s so important to have progressive candidates running in local races.Democracy or Else is out now!

People

Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, Stacey Abrams

Companies

Crooked Media

Books

"Democracy or Else" by Crooked Media hosts

Guest Name(s):

Stacey Abrams

Content Warnings:

None

Ted
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Tim Miller
If you're a regular pod save listener, you've heard us talk about the partisan right wing echo chamber that enables conspiracy theories, nut jobs, and oh yeah, Trump. The truth is, we should all get out of our bubbles a little more. That's why we have to recommend you add the Bulwark podcast to your rotation. Tim Miller, my pal and a former republican operative turned anti Trump crusader, interviews a wide range of guests, from celebrities to politicians to everyone in between. It's non tribal news and opinion, not for Team Red or Team blue, but for team democracy. He's also joined by other members of the bulwark crew like Sarah Longwell, Will Salatin, and former republican congressman Adam Kinzinger. Watch on YouTube or listen and subscribe to the Bulwarks podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

Ted
What's up, Brooklyn?

Welcome to plaid Save America. I'm Jon Favreau.

Stacey Abrams
I'm Stacey Abrams.

John Lovett
It's a little insulting.

I'm John Lovett.

Tim Miller
Playing for the crowd there. I'm Tommy Vitor.

Dan Pfeiffer
I'm Dan Pfeiffer.

Ted
We have a great show for you tonight. Strict scrutiny's Melissa Murray is here to break down, break down all the latest Supreme Court decisions and non decisions.

Our pal Amanda Lippmann, founder of Run for Something, is here to talk about yesterday's primaries in New York and the amazing roster of progressive candidates running up and down the ballot this fall. And of course, we are incredibly lucky to be joined by Stacey Abrams in her first appearance as a pod Save America guest host. What a dream.

Stacey Abrams
Thank you.

Ted
Thanks for doing this.

Stacey Abrams
Thanks for having me.

John Lovett
Huge get.

Ted
Huge get.

John Lovett
Huge get.

Ted
All right, before we dig into the news, we are here in New York because it's publication week for our book, democracy or else.

Yeah. How to save America in ten easy steps. Raise your hand if you bought a copy.

All right.

John Lovett
Pretty good.

Ted
Oh, thank you.

Tim Miller
Thank you.

John Lovett
Pretty good.

Tim Miller
By the way.

Ted
The rest of you, hold on. What's going on?

John Lovett
Raise your hand if you didn't.

Stacey Abrams
Raise your hand if you plan to. But he got you a little early.

Ted
There you go.

All right. We are trying to get this thing to the top of the bestseller list.

John Lovett
Hey, expectations game on the best seller list.

Ted
Somewhere near the top. I don't know.

John Lovett
I'm sorry I did that.

Ted
We're looking to do this not just to fill our insatiable hunger for public affirmation, which is even more insatiable for some of us than others, but because the more people who see this book and buy this book, the more money goes to vote. Save America and 2024 campaigns that are doing the real work to save democracy.

And luckily, Brooklyn's own Greenlight bookstore is here in the lobby selling copies.

Stacy, you're a best selling author of both political books and seven actual novels.

You got any advice for us?

Stacey Abrams
Writing words down works.

But I will say this. Having actually had a chance to read a bit of this, you should tell your friends, because this is a book that lets you read fast and look really smart.

And that's the best kind of book. I mean, if docies get figured that out, he may have made it some time, but that's what this does. It is a fantastic primer on what's happening, but it's an even better way for us to feel good about what we can get done. So I would just tell people that.

Ted
Best pitch I've heard.

John Lovett
That's incredible. I mean, Dostoevsky is rolling over in his grave, but for us. Good.

Ted
Thank you. All right, let's get to the news. I don't know if you guys have heard. There is allegedly a presidential debate Thursday night in Stacey's hometown of Atlanta.

Most important moment of the campaign so far.

The current president versus the former president.

Jacked up Joe versus don the con.

It's a rematch that nearly 60% of Americans claim they'll watch, even though 0% want to.

And can you blame anyone? Because this is what happened the last time these two met up.

Dan Pfeiffer
I look at New York. It's so sad what's happening in New York. And I'm not sure it can ever recover what they've done in New York. I want to make sure. Graduated last in your class. First in your class. Oh, God. I want to make sure.

Ted
Mister president.

Dan Pfeiffer
Can you let him finish, sir? No, he doesn't know how to do that. He has the wrong guy. The wrong night at the wrong time. My son was in Iraq. He spent a year there he was not a loser. He was a patriot. And the people left behind there were heroes. Really, and I resent.

John Lovett
Are you talking White Hill?

Dan Pfeiffer
Are you talking. I'm talking of my son, Beau Biden. You're talking.

John Lovett
I don't know Beau.

Dan Pfeiffer
I know Hunter.

John Lovett
What do you want to call him?

Dan Pfeiffer
Give me a name. Give me a name.

Ted
White supremacist and white supreme, white proud.

Dan Pfeiffer
Boys and white proud white suites. Stand back and stand by. But I'll tell you what. But why didn't you do it over the last 25 years? Because you weren't present. Because you weren't president screwing things up. You're the worst president America has ever had. Let people know we're senators. I'm not going to answer the question because the question is the question.

John Lovett
Radical left.

Dan Pfeiffer
Will you shut up? It's hard to get any word in with this clown.

Ted
Whew.

Dan Pfeiffer
Democracy's cool.

Ted
Democracy in action, folks.

Who's excited for these two to give it another go?

John Lovett
Anyone know that clip? Like, makes me want to throw up, but I'm also, like, hearing despacito and I don't totally know why. It just puts me in that headspace. And from that time, you know what I mean?

Ted
Did everyone else get the pit in their stomach when they watched it? I got the. I got the pit every time. Yeah.

So this debate will be 90 minutes, two commercial breaks, two moderators, CNN's Dana Bash and the man that Trump lovingly calls fake tapper.

There will be no opening statements, no pre written notes, no talking to advisors during the break. Two minute answers, 1 minute rebuttals. And when your time is up, your mic is muted.

Yeah, sure. Muted mics.

Stacy, we have all talked probably too much at this point about our experiences preparing candidates for debates. You're the first guest host to have actually participated in a debate as a candidate. Can you talk a little bit about what it was like, what your prep was like and how much staffers like us annoyed the shit out of you.

Stacey Abrams
Given that some of them still work with me? No, I will say I was. I was resistant to the rigor of debate prep, in part because I don't like sounding stupid out loud in front of other people. And part of debate prep is admitting all of the things you don't know to a group of people who are there purely to judge you.

If I want to do that, I'll go and look in a mirror.

But I will say part of what I learned about debate, and it was the best debate advice ever got, it was that I wasn't debating the other person.

It was an opportunity to talk to the people, and it's hard to ignore the person that you vehemently disagree with when they're standing that close.

But when you can focus on telling people what they need to know, it's a lot easier to do it. But debate prep sucks. It is over and over again, like, you're giving an answer. And much as you're probably thinking like, shut up, slow it down, cut it off. And you're trying to count in your head to 30 seconds, 90 seconds. And did you remember that pithy phrase you were going to use that was going to make everyone tweet you the next day?

And if not, you just pretended you said it anyway? So there you go.

Ted
If you were in debate prep at Camp David, what would you be giving Joe Biden in terms of either advice or pharmaceuticals?

Stacey Abrams
He's debated a lot more than I have. He has acquitted himself well. I think I will say in grave seriousness, the biggest and most important piece of this debate is remembering that most people watching it already know what they want. What they need is to remember why they want it.

We have selective memory in this country, which is why we have to do this every four years, every two years, trying to remind people to vote. But the challenge and the opportunity that President Biden has is to tell people that this isn't about just what has happened. It's also about what can happen, not the fascist storm that is heading our way. But he's put a lot on the table. And I grew up in the south, so he's planted a lot. Now it's time to let those things grow. And I think if he talks to folks about what's possible and why he's the person we want tending the garden. So I can completely butcher this metaphor, that's the best way to get people to do this. But as much as that clip was interesting, watching the fisticuffs is not going to be what changes people's minds, but what will get them motivated and engaged is the belief that if they go and do something, things will sprout and grow and life will get better.

Ted
Yeah, that's good advice.

So, Dan, a lot of smart, well meaning organizations from the left to the center left have been releasing memos and polls about what they're hoping to hear and see from President Biden tomorrow night. I'm sure you've read every word, looked at all the numbers. What's most persuasive to you in terms of the message that Biden needs to drive at the debate.

Dan Pfeiffer
Well, John, I have read every word of all the memos, and you're not going to believe this, but just coincidentally, their advice for what Joe Biden should say at the debate lines up perfectly with the policy agenda of their organizations.

Ted
That's amazing.

Dan Pfeiffer
And what are the odds, right?

Ted
So very weird.

Dan Pfeiffer
Look, in all seriousness, there is good advice in there, particularly around how the president should talk about immigration and the economy.

But I think that the best way for the president to do this is to take it bigger.

John Lovett
Right?

Dan Pfeiffer
Which is the story that people leave here, leave the debate with, is that every single day Joe Biden wakes up and he's thinking about you, he's fighting for you. What does Donald Trump do? Thinks about himself, right? He's running for president to avoid going to jail, give himself a giant tax cut, go back in power so he can exact vengeance on his enemies. He's not thinking about you. If he gets reelected, there's gonna be no one in the White House who's fighting for you. Right? And that is the right message because that is the most obviously and essentially true message. Joe Biden's superpower is his empathy. The most obvious thing about Donald Trump is he's a narcissist who cares only about himself. Right? What is so interesting about him is that he is a grievance politician. But the grievances are all personal.

It's people who wronged him, not people who wronged you, people who took your job away, shipped your job overseas. It's about the deep state and the New York Times and the CNN and all the people who after him. And that is absolutely true. Now, this part is very hard for people like us who've spent over a decade now screaming about how the press obsesses over optics.

But what Joe Biden says at this debate is less important than how he says it, right? It is going to be. Does he come off as forceful, strong, energetic? Does he answer the questions of, according to the New York Times Sienna poll that was released hopefully 3 hours before this podcast, three quarters of the country who think he's too old for the job.

Is he going to address that? Because that, to me, is the whole kitten caboodle. That's what this is about.

The Biden campaign wanted this debate this early on this day because they thought this was their single best opportunity to address that. Because once they address that, that opens up everything else. Right? It makes people listen to him more on the economy, makes people trust him more to protect them and keep them safe. We'll trust them more to keep the border secure or to pass legislation like conference immigration reform is you have to do that. And so you're going to get the right message out. But how he delivers that message is going to be more important than anything else.

Ted
Yeah. And what people are like, waking up worried about is not necessarily Joe Biden's age. They're worried about cost of living, affordability. People are saying they worry about immigration, they're worried about abortion access, worry about democracy. And what they're looking for from Biden is that he is strong enough that he can do something about this. And that's where the age issue, I think, comes in. And so I do think, like, a lot of strong value statements when he's up there is gonna be, like, really important to, like, let people know he's gonna fight for them. And when it comes to the economy, like, really digging in on, here's what I have done, it's a down payment on what I want to do for the next four years. And if you give me another chance, we'll keep working in this direction. If you go with this guy, he only cares about himself and he's going to take us back.

Dan Pfeiffer
The worst mistake the president can make at this debate is to turn this into a defense of his record over the last four years.

Ted
Just can't do it.

Dan Pfeiffer
Because what you're doing, and I get it right, this is the mistake every incumbent makes. It's the mistake Barack Obama made in that first debate with Mitt Romney in 2012, is you're proud of what you did, you're not getting enough credit. This other guy across stage is lying about what you did. And so you want to defend it, you want to do that. But when you do that as the incumbent, you're accepting the premise that your opponent wants, which is this is a referendum on the past. So you got to make it about the future, right? You can mention the things you did, but as proof positive that you're going to do things in the future, because the best comparison with Trump is not the economy during Trump's presidency in the economy now, it's what they're going to do, the economy over the next four years, right? And Donald Trump's going to cut taxes to the rich people. He's going to pay for it by cutting Social Security and Medicare, and he's going to overturn the Affordable Care act. Like that's his agenda. Go. Future agenda versus future agenda is a good place for the president to be.

Ted
Tommy, you weirdly decided to rewatch the first Biden Trump debate from 2020. You guys did, too, without being asked. Well, just a little. Tommy and I flew here on Sunday. Our flight was delayed 5 hours. So we spent the day at Lax.

Tim Miller
We did.

Ted
We finally got on the plane and it was pretty late. And Tommy spent the flight watching the first debate.

Tim Miller
It was a good time.

Ted
And then now we all felt bad, so we all started watching it today. And let me tell you, it's not a fun watch. Tommy, what were your takeaways from that undoubtedly enjoyable experience?

Tim Miller
Yes, we had a great time on the plane.

Biggest takeaway?

Unfortunately, it's an optics one, which is Joe Biden looked a lot younger, and I know no one wants to hear that, but he looked younger and he sounded younger. And so I totally agree with what Dan is saying, that there is a threshold question about his age that he has to answer, that we saw in the New York Times poll where 68% of voters were concerned about his age and fitness to do the job. So I think what he says might be, at some points of the debate, less important than how he says it or the vigor with which he sort of prosecutes the case. The flip side of that was Trump was so much angrier and redder faced and angrier. Just, he was so enraged in that moment, and I'd almost forgotten how just caustic and nasty he was. And of course, we did later learn that he had Covid and he wound up in the hospital. So I guess on some level, it's like kind of an impressive performance, you know, to get out there and just rage for 90 minutes with COVID He played through it.

John Lovett
He's like Michael Jordan in that game. The one fact about sports I know that was good.

Tim Miller
The flu game.

John Lovett
Yeah, the flu game.

Tim Miller
Jordan, flu game.

John Lovett
It was like the flu game.

Tim Miller
Good for you. And then poor Chris Wallace was just a drunk guy at a bar holding onto the mechanical bull like you agreed to the rules. But so we'll see how this goes. I mean, the takeaway was Trump is going to attack from the very 1st, 2nd until the last second. So you have to be prepared for that. But also parry and respond and get him on defense and get that version of Trump, this angry, raging, red faced man, back on that stage.

I don't have, I don't think he has learned discipline in the last couple of years, but we've seen the more disciplined campaign. So it is a concern. I think Biden has to look energetic, as we discussed. He has to be sharp and be on top of things. And then the one thing it really did make me rethink was this question about the muted mics when they're not speaking and the impact, because I do think muting their mics when the other is speaking is good for the Republican, because I think most people watch a debate like that and they shout over each other and the response is not to blame one or the other. It's just to be like, politics is awful. Like, I'm chained. ESPN is a channel away. Like, what are we doing here? But I do worry that a muted Mike could save Trump from himself and the ugliest side of him coming out. So it made me a little anxious about that.

Ted
Yeah.

Because I remember too, like, watching that first debate, and when they were yelling at each other, it was like, ugh, this is just, it's just bad.

To Stacy's earlier point about, like, the most important thing you can do is, like, talk directly to the people.

I do think to the extent that Biden shows anger or passion, you always want it to be like, anger on behalf of the american people, passion on behalf of the american people, and not anger at Trump. Like, when Trump tries to kneel him in a personal way, let that stuff go. When Trump tries to say something that you can then come back and be like, look, in 2020, you tried to throw people's votes away.

You took the right to decide women's healthcare away from them. You tried to take 20 million people's health care away from them. Get angry about things that affect people. Don't get angry about whatever Donald Trump says about you. Graduated last in your class, which he seemed really obsessed with in that first debate. Love it. One topic DC is yapping about ahead of the debate has to do with fact checking.

CNN's political director said the debate is, quote, not the ideal arena for live fact checking and that Dana and Jake will be, quote, facilitating the debate between these candidates. They will not be participants in that debate. There's some reports that this has annoyed the Biden camp. Trump then posted that nobody's as loose with the truth as crooked Joe and accused him of lying about his golf handicap.

What do you make of this? How much, if any, fact checking should the moderators do?

John Lovett
Yeah, no, look, we're a couple fact checks away from having this whole thing locked up.

Get a couple more pinocchios out there, can all get a good night's sleep.

So, yeah, I saw these stories. And look, I love working the refs. Let's work the refs. Great.

We were just talking about what Joe Biden has to do. Joe Biden has to defy right wing caricatures of his performance, assuage people's concerns about his age, while at the same time reminding people of everything they dislike about Trump as a narcissist and how extreme he is. The moderators can't do that. The moderators can't help him do either of those things. Only Joe Biden can do that. And that would be true if the moderators weren't Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who were, I think, two reporters who are going to follow up. They're not going to just roll over, but we've seen them interview both of these people in the past. And not only that, how does Joe Biden do both assuage people's concerns about his age and remind people of the threat Trump poses by beating Trump in a debate. That's how he does it.

He will prove that he is up for the job by proving that Trump is not up for the job. And so I am less concerned about whether or not Dana Bash says, actually, inflation is technically down, or Jake Tapper jumps in and says, actually, murder rates were higher in 2020 than I am about any circumstance in which Joe Biden is just standing there and all of a sudden Jake is arguing with Trump, and then Dana Bash comes down with a fucking folding chair on top of Trump's head.

And Joe Biden is just an observer. Like, I'm not interested in that.

Dan Pfeiffer
I'm interested in that.

Ted
Yeah, I'd love to.

Tim Miller
What are you talking about? That's incredible.

John Lovett
I'm talking myself into it. I'm talking myself into it.

More broadly, there's a lot of reasons to be concerned about misinformation about Joe Biden's age, about the ways in which the media kind of has normalized Trump. But, man, this debate is about Joe Biden answering the concerns that Americans have. And really, I think any conversation about the moderators is a sideshow.

Ted
Stacey, if the moderators don't fact check Trump, how much fact checking do you think Joe Biden should do?

Stacey Abrams
He should only fact check as a way to talk about the future.

It's. This is what should actually be understood. This is how we talk about it. Rule number one in misinformation is you don't repeat the lie. And so using the lie as a way to show his strength, to show his future vision, to avoid Dana getting up with the chair, those are all he could be doing a lot of services, both for America and for CNN, by using it as a point of entry to a larger conversation so that people see what possibilities look like. And to the point about being reminded of just how angry Trump is, not taking the bait ticks him off more than almost anything else. And so being unwilling to take the bait and instead being the grown up on the stage, which is, you know, what he is, that's the best way to fact check without having to call the question.

Dan Pfeiffer
I think that's so important because there is, and I think Biden fell into this in that last debate with the wrong guy, wrong time, wrong place.

That is a version of strength, right? But what Biden needs to be is strong and steady. That's the. Like, Trump. People think Trump is strong. They may view that strength in a malicious way, as many of us do and should, but he comes off as strong. Right. It's Sarah Longwell, our friend, who's on this podcast a lot, says he gives off raving lunatic energy, right?

And so that becomes equated with strong. So Biden doesn't show strength by repeatedly punching Trump in the face, literally or figuratively, but by being strong and energetic in his responses, but also seeming steady. Cause that's the difference between the two, is that that's how Biden won. Was Trump, like, you watch that debate, and it's a reminder of just how chaotic and erratic and alarming Trump is. And that was particularly alarming at a time of national crisis like we were going through in the pandemic at the time. And so Biden had, and people looked at Biden and they said, that is a steady hand on the wheel in a dangerous time. And Biden has to show that, because that's been lost over the last four years.

Stacey Abrams
I mean, I think it's machismo versus maturity.

Dan Pfeiffer
Yes, that's right.

Stacey Abrams
We need to see maturity. And that lets him lean into age, because you get maturity from someone who's been here long enough to know what's worth fighting about and what's not.

Tim Miller
We got a whole lot of maturity on our side.

John Lovett
Yeah, we got maturity. Yeah, we got maturity up the yang. We got so much maturity.

Tim Miller
I think the. Where it gets a little weird for Jake and Dana is not like, actually, mister former president, 27 NATO countries, paid 2% of GDP for defense. You know, it's like, not shit.

Dan Pfeiffer
It's like, would you cheer?

Tim Miller
You know, it's like. It's like, no, actually, mister president, you. You didn't win the 2020 election, and your own attorney general said there wasn't sufficient voter fraud to impact the outcome in any way. Like, those are the kind of threshold, like, the sky is blue, the sky is red kind of reality based questions where I wonder if they start to feel like they need to start.

Ted
Yeah, I mean, we're talking about this like it's a regular presidential debate, but one of the candidates is a convicted felon who tried to overturn the last election and then incited a violent insurrection in the Capitol. So it's just like, it's like it's the elephant in the room, you know?

John Lovett
Yeah.

But, like, right now, if you look at swing state polls, right, Donald Trump is currently leading. Joe Biden is losing.

Joe Biden needs to change something at this debate. If we come out of this debate and it's a story about how Donald Trump and Jake Tapper were mixing it up, well, that's a problem. That's a, like. And I don't like, I think just as much as, like, whatever.

Like, I don't think Jake Tapper or Dana Bash want to be the story out of this debate. All right? But I, at the same time, I expect one way they will avoid any question about being biased is they're not going to go easy on Donald Trump. They're going to go really hard on both of them.

Dan Pfeiffer
Right.

John Lovett
Like, everyone's talking a lot about what Jake and Dana are going to do with Trump. Like, one of the ways Joe Biden is going to have to, he's going to get some pretty hard questions from the moderators, too. And that's going to be part of his test.

Dan Pfeiffer
The story that comes out matters a lot. Right?

I know 60% of voters said they're gonna watch the debate. That would be 90 million people, zero chance there. So, you know, if you pull people and ask me if you're gonna go to the gym this week, they also say, yes, 30% of the country, half.

Ted
The country is full of shit.

Dan Pfeiffer
But so, you know, that Biden debate that we just saw, 70 million people endured that. Now, that's a time in which that was a general election debate in October at a time in which you really had no other option. It's not like you're choosing between the debate and going out to dinner with your friends or going to a baseball game. Right? You were either watching that or watching something else. Right? In that same poll where 60% of people said they'd watch it, only 41% of, quote, unquote, swing voters said they were going to watch it. And so the people we need most are probably not going to watch it. So they're just going to pick up the vibes off the debate. And if the vibe is, God, that was fucking awful. These guys yelled at each other for 90 minutes. That doesn't change the dynamics of the race. Right? If it is Trump's a giant asshole, that does help a little bit. But the one you really want is Biden was better than I thought.

Ted
Yep.

Dan Pfeiffer
Right. That's what you want people talking about. Right? And then when people see the clips. Cause the real spin war is gonna be on tick tock after the debates over. You want the clips to jive. Like, that's what'll go viral. A bunch of people going, Biden was pretty good. I don't agree with him on everything, but he was pretty good.

John Lovett
You want a hot guy who normally makes pottery to be like, I actually watched the debate and I was pretty surprised.

Tim Miller
No, you want one of the clip guys like Aaron Rupar being like, I can't believe Maria Bartiromo said this. And you click the clip and you're totally underwhelmed by the results. But yeah, you gotta frame it.

John Lovett
You gotta frame it.

Ted
Question for the group before we move on.

The president of CNN called you and said that Jake was having a dental emergency and you had to be the fill in moderator.

What is the number one question you're asking Donald Trump?

Tim Miller
Jake is ripping that tooth out with his bare hands.

Remember the scene in castaway where he put the figure skid against his tooth and he banged it out of his.

John Lovett
Face with a rock? Cut me, cut me, cut me. Mac.

Tim Miller
Anyone got a question?

John Lovett
It's a rocky joke.

Stacey Abrams
None that don't have curse words in them.

I'm.

Ted
Don't challenge her to swear.

Stacey Abrams
I'm the daughter of not one, but two pastors.

If I curse, I have to say bless your heart when I'm done.

No, I mean, I think it's a question about.

I don't know. Cause he's gonna lie.

Maybe just ask him how old he is. See if he can get that one right.

Tim Miller
Don't you wanna ask basics sometimes? Like, how does a bill become a law that.

Stacey Abrams
No, no, no. How many states are there?

Tim Miller
What are the three branches of government?

Stacey Abrams
Where is Florida?

Dan Pfeiffer
Explain the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. Oh, that's a good one. That's a really good one.

Ted
Look, I wanted to ask this question because we know tomorrow morning when this podcast comes out, Jake and Dan are gonna be listening.

Tim Miller
Yeah.

Ted
What about they are. What about thing they do? Positive.

Tim Miller
But how are you really? You know, like, see if you can get.

Ted
Open up. Hope.

Tim Miller
What gives you hope?

Dan Pfeiffer
Drake. Drake or Kendrick?

Ted
Love it. Do you have one?

John Lovett
You know, I was thinking about this question, and I really don't. Like, I, I feel like the questions we actually want him to answer are also obvious, right? Because, like, the truth is obvious. That's, I think, the challenge of being in this time, which is that, like, the truth is blitheringly obvious to all of us. And it feels like our job is to go out there and say something that we believe is completely obvious to a country that is, for some reason, inexplicably, unavoidably, 50 50, no matter what fucking happens.

And so it's like, really the question, it's like you end up at the place where you're like, how fucking, how do you fuck your mother? How could you?

And that doesn't do anything for anybody. But I like questions, though. I do think that there have been moments with Trump, too, where you ask a question like, you know, we're so accustomed to it now. Like, the Trump worldview is everything he's ever done is perfect. And when he's president, everything's great, and he's not. Everything's shit. And that flips that. That's a switch that flips the day he wins or loses. And, like, what's your biggest mistake, right? Like, what do you think you got most wrong when you were president? Like, what's your biggest regret?

Stacey Abrams
I say Mike Pence.

Ted
Yeah, but that's interesting.

John Lovett
But that's interesting, right?

Tim Miller
But I remember early on, Hugh Hewitt, Lovett's friend, conservative radio host, asked President Trump, then candidate Trump, what is the nuclear triad, which is like the three means of distributing nuclear weapons. There's subs, there's nuclear silos, and there's bombers. And Trump clearly didn't know the answer.

John Lovett
Unlike all of us, and just fudged.

Tim Miller
His way through it. But Hugh is a right wing hack who worked for Richard Nixon, and now it was a radio show, so he just kind of let it pass. But, like, something like that could just catch him on the basics of government.

Dan Pfeiffer
Yeah, he's very good at not answering questions.

Amanda Lippmann
Yeah.

Ted
Yeah.

Dan Pfeiffer
Like, he, like, his greatest political skill is that he has no capacity for shame in his body.

And so it just, like any other normal person would get that question and they would feel more and more uncomfortable as they were trying to bullshit their way through it. It would be patently obvious. He just bulls through it.

Ted
Well, I think that's why it can't be a question that he's just going to lie through.

I want him to. I would ask him.

All right, you've said before that you, this kind of goes to the Mike Pence thing you said before, that you hire the best people.

But more than a dozen of your most senior aides last time you were president are not supporting you, including multiple defense secretaries, multiple national security advisors, your vice president, multiple White House chiefs of staff. And they have said about you that you are a threat to democracy, that you are a danger to America, that you are a narcissistic moron.

How can the american people trust you to lead this country if the people that you hired who worked closest with you aren't supporting you?

Tim Miller
I bet he gets that.

John Lovett
Yeah, that's a good question. You said you had a great question just in your back fucking pocket.

You set us up.

Ted
He also, good fucking contest. I just wanted to add.

John Lovett
That was really good. That was really good.

Dan Pfeiffer
Didn't Chris Wallace ask him that question?

Ted
Chris Wallace yeah. When?

Dan Pfeiffer
On Fox News Sunday, I think.

Tim Miller
Oh, yeah.

Ted
When did he do an interview with, oh, oh, wait, when is the last time he, I was wondering this, because this is the first time that Donald Trump has submitted himself to questions from someone who is not a right wing, like a Newsmax person. When did he do?

Dan Pfeiffer
Chris WaLLace well, that was a long time ago.

Ted
That was years ago.

Dan Pfeiffer
Caitlin Collins I think on CNN was probably the last.

John Lovett
It is.

Dan Pfeiffer
Or the 90 Minutes Time magazine review.

John Lovett
That he did, which is why, well.

Ted
That'S not live tv.

John Lovett
I didn't think that. We talk a lot about incumbent presidents. You know, they're not used to being questioned. This is a rare time we have two incumbent presidents who are gonna face kind of tough questions in a way neither one of them are particularly used to. I also think Trump, too, like, if you ask him a question he knows is meant to throw him off guard, he's very kind of good at avoiding it. But actually some of the most damaging things he's ever said, like, I think there should be some punishment for the woman, right. Those are questions that didn't seem dangerous. Right. And he tried to bullshit his way through because he didn't know the answer and didn't know how fraught it was. So that's sometimes the most interesting space to get Trump.

Amanda Lippmann
Yeah.

Dan Pfeiffer
Give me your thoughts on tax policy, sir.

Ted
Yes, I think, like, catching him being dumb is fine, but I also, because that'll happen. But I do think, like, some of the questions are like, hey, are we all crazy here? He tried to overturn the election. All these people, like, imagine if all of Joe Biden's senior officials were like, absolutely not the guys. A threat to democracy. What are we doing here?

Questions like that, I think are in.

Dan Pfeiffer
The New York Times poll once again released three podcast 6% of likely voters think that Donald Trump should be president and in prison.

Ted
Eight. It was eight.

Dan Pfeiffer
That's registered. That's registered.

Tim Miller
It's six.

Dan Pfeiffer
Unlikely.

Ted
I said that. I saw that. It's like eight for this is. You want to be really sad. 8% of the supporters think you should go to jail.

It's tough. It's tough. Okay, enough of that. It's going to be a great debate tomorrow night. Wonderful. It's going to be.

John Lovett
We'll see on the other side.

Ted
It's going to be a pageant of democracy.

But before we let Stacy go, she has generously agreed to play a game with some spicy prose that will seem very familiar to you.

And I don't know anything about this.

John Lovett
Stacy.

Stacey Abrams
Yes, John?

John Lovett
I don't know if you know this, but Tommy and I, and John sort of, he helped a little. We wrote a book.

I've heard tell it's called democracy or else. It dropped Tuesday, and it's available at fine bookstores everywhere, including here at this show. And if it hits the best sellers list, maybe airports.

You, of course, are not just a person who is helping to change the politics of Georgia while advocating for voting rights and democracy. You are also an author of multiple novels, which you wrote under your pseudonym, JK Rowling.

I read them all on the plane. It's Selena Montgomery, which is a beautiful name. I really like it.

Stacey Abrams
Thank you.

Ted
Yeah, I really like that.

John Lovett
Now, I read them all on the plane here. And boy, are my arms tired. So we thought we'd make voting rights sexy in a segment we're calling kiss and tell people to register.

And it's very simple.

Stacey Abrams
Okay.

John Lovett
I would just love if you could help our audience get a primer on the stakes around voting and democracy in this election. So, John, Tommy, and Dan are each going to ask you a question about it.

Stacey Abrams
Okay.

John Lovett
And that's all there is to it.

Stacey Abrams
I do not believe you.

John Lovett
No, that really is. They're just going to ask you a question and that's all there is to it. Dan, you're going to kick us off?

Ted
Oh, no.

Dan Pfeiffer
Excellent.

John Lovett
Here is your question for Stacy. Why don't you kick it off and please read it as written. Thank you.

Ted
Okay.

Dan Pfeiffer
Okay. Hi, Stacey. It's me, Dan Pfeiffer.

Stacey Abrams
Hi, Dan.

Dan Pfeiffer
I lend a little, I lend a certain credibility to this whole operation, sort of a spectrum with love it on one end and me on the other. Anywho. Hey, slow.

John Lovett
Hey, don't rush through it.

Dan Pfeiffer
Okay.

Anywho, in exchange, in one of your novels, reminded me of the importance of mail in voting.

Hunger raged inside her, demanding to be sated. But it would mean nothing if he didn't understand.

You're all I ever wanted, she said. Ethan froze, stunned and humbled. He kissed her. Then, slowly, tenderly, a benediction and a beginning, murmuring into the night. I've only ever been yours.

Republicans in Nevada are suing to block the counting of mail ballots that arrive after election day.

There are efforts to restrict voting across the country in the hope the Supreme Court will issue benedictions for their policies. I see what you did there. But it is the. But is the hunger for democracy among voters enough to overcome these restrictions?

Stacey Abrams
Well, given that as a line from hidden sins, what we know.

Thank you. What we know is that the secret to their success was revealing to the world what was happening. So, number one, the way we protect democracy and we ensure access is by pushing hard for the world to see what Nevada has been and what it could be. Because Morrow's was a story of redemption.

And we can redeem ourselves and Nevada in 2022 by making sure that the voters of Nevada believe that not only is their right to vote sacred, but it is a benediction to put a stamp on that ballot and send it in so it get canceled.

John Lovett
John has a question for you as well.

Stacey Abrams
And John, I hate you.

Ted
Hi, Stacey. It's me. Podcasting's Jon Favreau.

Polls show a lot of voters, especially voters who are less engaged and less likely to vote, are skeptical of democracy itself. Whether it can deliver that it's worth their time. Which reminded me of how much we admire your leadership and wisdom. Do we take for granted that people understand why a democratic system is best? How do you address that cynicism?

John Lovett
He just got a nice one.

Ted
Yeah, I was, like, reading it, like.

Stacey Abrams
Oh, no, I don't think we take it for granted. I think it depends on the state you live in. Literally, we have 50 different democracies. If you're in Oregon or in California, congratulations. Or Washington state, yay. If you're in Georgia, God bless you, because the governor won't.

If you're in Florida or Texas, they're trying their best to stop you. And so I think our opportunity is to remember that not everyone has the same democracy that you do, even though we live in the United States. And so a lot of the work that we do, a lot of the work that vote, save America, does that fair fight, does the work that gets done, is about trying to ensure that for as many people as possible, we can start to take for granted how democracy should work. But until we get there, we've got to do the work for everyone who doesn't have a chance to stand up.

And while I'm talking about fair fight, make sure you check out fairfight.com lfgv. F stands for freakin let's freakin go vote. So go to fairfight.com LFGv, which is being done in partnership with Vote Save America, because we can get this done.

John Lovett
And I believe Tommy has a question for you.

Stacey Abrams
Tommy, I am sorry.

Tim Miller
Okay.

Hi Stacy. Tommy Vitor here and I turn red at the slightest provocation.

John Lovett
Hold for effect.

Tim Miller
I was thinking about the franchise while reading this passage in the novel hidden sins.

Heat, like an inferno, blazed in his veins. It demanded that he slide his arms around her, that he trail his hand along her spine to sink into the silver curls at her nape. He wanted to pull away to resist the skeins.

Thank you for the parenthetical there that would bind his heart to her again, but he'd forgotten that she tasted of honeyed sweetness.

Thanks. We are trying to resist the skeins of partisan gerrymandering and the purging of voter rolls. But for Republicans, the prospect of choosing their voters rather than the other way around is just too sweet. How do we fight for democracy when it feels like the democracy itself is stacked against us?

Stacey Abrams
Thank you.

We fight for democracy by remembering that we're entitled to it.

The constitution does not give us the right to vote, but our citizenship gives us the responsibility to demand the vote.

And so part of the effectiveness of gerrymandering is that it tries to convince us that our votes don't matter because we don't live in the right zip code or on the right side of the line.

My response is that we do our best to erase those lines.

We do that by making sure that people who don't, who were unfortunately drawn out of power, understand that there are other ways to gain that power. And we don't use voting as the only thing. It is one of the tools in the toolbox. And just as the curls of the nape of Mara's head that curled around his fingers as he pulled her closer, we can too pull our country closer together.

Ted
Amazing.

Dan Pfeiffer
Amazing.

John Lovett
So just so everyone, thank you so much.

Stacey Abrams
Stacey, thank you for having me before.

John Lovett
Just so everybody here knows, we'll have more to say about it soon, but there is a very exciting project from Stacey Abrams and crooked media coming your way soon.

Stacey Abrams
But I won't kiss and tell.

John Lovett
Stacey Abrams, everybody. The one and only.

Ted
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John Lovett
This show is sponsored by Betterhelp. This year has gone so quickly. What is something I'm proud of in 2024? Oh, boy. There are so many things I'm proud of.

I'm proud of uber book. Oh, I'm proud of the fact that we finished our book.

Tim Miller
That's right.

John Lovett
Democracy. Or else how to save America in ten easy steps. It's available for pre order right now. We're trying to get on the New York Times bestseller list. That'll make me proud.

Tim Miller
That'd be great.

John Lovett
But I've also, I'm sure, had some interior things that made me proud as well. Not just, you know, not just tokens of material and sort of success in the world.

Tim Miller
Right.

John Lovett
But I couldn't think of one right now.

Dan Pfeiffer
Right?

Tim Miller
Yeah, sure.

John Lovett
The point is, that's why I need therapy. Why do you need therapy? You know why everyone needs therapy. It's important to take moments to celebrate your wins and make adjustments for the rest of the year. Therapy can help you take stock of your progress and set achievable goals for the next six months. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give better help a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapist anytime for no additional charge. Take a moment, visit betterhelp.com PSA today and get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp help.com psa.

Ted
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Dan Pfeiffer
Our guest tonight is the co founder of Run for something and thank you. An amazing organization has recruited and trained thousands of progressive candidates all around this country to run for office up and down the ballot. She is one of the most inspiring and smartest people in democratic politics. Please welcome to the stage Brooklyn's own Amanda Lippmann.

Thank you for being here.

Amanda Lippmann
Thank you for having me.

Dan Pfeiffer
I promise not to make you read anything from Stacey's books.

Amanda Lippmann
I've read a few of them. They're very good.

Dan Pfeiffer
They're very good. Yes.

Okay.

While the presidential race is gonna come down to traditional battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, the race for control of the House of Representatives is to come down to this state right here, New York. Now, last night was a primary election here. We had a very divisive primary. Incumbent Jamal Bowman lost.

But going forward, this is going to be where it happens, right? We have two Republicans in the Joe Biden one a bunch of really purple districts.

What is your view of what's going to happen? Can the party unite in time to take advantage of a bunch of contested, targeted, winnable house races in a very blue state in the presidential year?

Amanda Lippmann
I think we're going to have to.

New York is going to be a battleground this year, which is a little unfamiliar for us New Yorkers in most elections. But we have seen what New Yorkers can do when it comes to going out to Pennsylvania and knocking doors when it comes to going down to Virginia and knocking doors when it counts. And I believe that New Yorkers can understand this is our time to shine. We can show up when it counts. We always do.

And there are some really competitive local elections that are going to be happening this year all across the state, including in some of these competitive house districts that are going to make the difference, too.

Dan Pfeiffer
Are there any political races anywhere on the ballot here in New York that you're watching with particular interests that you think are inspiring candidates? Interesting, important races?

Amanda Lippmann
Well, run for something. Just had a bunch of candidates up on the ballot yesterday that I'm really excited about. We helped Claire Valdez win a union organizer take a seat in the state assembly up in Albany. Gabriela Romero wanna see a very progressive, incredible young woman in a very competitive race. And I think there's gonna be some really exciting races out on Long island this year, so stay tuned.

Dan Pfeiffer
People often think that it is the presidential race that drives turnout. And that was sort of in the premise of my question, that this is a presidential year here in New York. But run for something thinks it's the opposite, right? You talk about something that's called reverse coattails, where local elections can actually drive turnout for the top of the ticket. Do you explain your theory and how it's impacted recent elections?

Amanda Lippmann
So, traditionally, people understand that the presidential candidate has coattails, that people show up to vote for Biden or against Trump and then also fill out the rest of the ballot. What run for something has seen, and we actually proved this out with some research back in 2020, is that contesting local elections, especially state ledge, city council, school board, can increase turnout for the entire ticket to the tune of anywhere between 0.3 and 2.3% within that district, which can be the margin of victory for, say, Biden in Wisconsin or Arizona or Georgia.

Now, think about this a little bit. Your local candidates, your state ledge candidate, your city council candidate, is out there knocking doors, talking to voters. Hey, I'm Amanda. I want to talk to you about your property taxes or the book bans they're pushing or how we can fight for abortion access here in this state. You know them. You can yell at them directly if you want, which is kind of fun. You can really build a personal relationship. It's like a field organizer with a ton of skin in the game. And more recently, we actually tested this out with young voters. In particular, we fielded a question in a poll. We asked young voters in battleground states, if there was a young, diverse, progressive running for state or local office near you or in your area, how would that affect your likelihood to vote? 61% of young Democrats said it would make them more likely to show up.

That's huge, especially in a year where, like, let's be honest, a lot of young people, especially young voters of color, not particularly psyched to show up for Biden. So this is a tool in our toolbox.

Dan Pfeiffer
I was going to ask that because this is, you know, I think obviously reverse coattails works all the time, particularly in, you know, redder parts of the state where democratic House may not run all the time or there's not a competitive congressional race. So, you know, you're not seeing ads to turn out, but maybe you're turning out for your local school board or as you say, city council or alderman or local election official. I know is something you guys focus a lot on. But this year in particular, it feels like with so many people being unhappy with the choice at the top of the ticket for whatever reason, that this would be most important. Right.

Amanda Lippmann
You know, we just had a small gathering to talk about some of the work run for something does around school board races. And Luis de Santos, who's a member of the Miami Dade school board, who's a target for Ron DeSantis, who's had proud boys, like, show up at her campaign events, who's been harassed and also has done incredible things for Miami Dade, bringing electric school buses down there, working for free lunch for kids. She was telling us how she goes and knocks doors and she'll talk to voters and she'll be like, well, are you going to vote this fall? And they're like, no, psych, not interested. And they'll say, well, let me talk to you about what I've done for your kids. We don't even have to talk about Biden. We don't have to talk about Trump. Let's talk about what I've done for your kids and for our community.

They have a conversation, will you show up and vote for me? And she's able to get them to say yes.

And that times 1000 is what's going to win for democracy this fall.

Ted
Right.

Dan Pfeiffer
Because people, they turn out, they're unlikely to leave the first question blank, right.

Amanda Lippmann
It's just not really what people do. Sometimes people leave the down ballot blank. But what we're doing with the thousands of run for something candidates across the country this year that we've recruited and the hundreds that we're endorsing is giving people more invitations, more reasons to show up. They'll probably do the rest of the ballot, most of them, because most of them are Democrats. They don't want Trump, they're just, like, not super psyched about everything else.

Dan Pfeiffer
In 2022, you guys spent everyone spend a lot of time talking about electing the candidates at the local level who are going to help certify the elections. Right. That in some cases, it's the recorder of deeds. Right.

Could you just talk a little bit about that effort, how you're doing in 2024 and maybe some of it? So, because we know when you talk local issues, right. You think local candidate, school board potholes, local excise, taxes. Right. But how local candidates affect, like, some of the national issues, we think about, like, education, abortion, healthcare, that sort of stuff.

Amanda Lippmann
Okay, so we call this program clerk work because I love a good rhyme. And the idea is that we should elect pro democracy leaders who actually oversee elections. It's revolutionary.

Dan Pfeiffer
That is a crazy idea.

Amanda Lippmann
Crazy. It's something Steve Bannon fundamentally disagrees with and has been running massive campaigns to recruit against.

We have been doing this now for about two and a half years. Intentionally. We've gotten more than 500 folks to run for pro democracy positions that actually oversee elections. My favorite example here. So in 2023, we sent a bunch of text messages out in Pennsylvania saying, hey, have you thought about running for county commission? Because county commissions, among their many other powers, oversee the election, decide where polling places are and how the election is certified.

One of the people we texted was a pastor in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, named Justin Douglas. Justin had been fired from his congregation for being too welcoming to LGBTQ congregants.

He had been working with the unhoused community in the area, and he was like, eh, I don't know if I'm the right person for this, but I'll have a conversation with you. And our Pennsylvania state director and our team there worked with him to get him to. Yes. And then to help him run this incredible campaign for county commission in Dauphin county, which is around Harrisburg. He was outspent ten to one. He was running against a Republican who had all the money and all the support and all the institutions.

And Justin was leaving flyers on people's doors that was like, the mayor in jaws one, is still the mayor in jaws two. Local elections matter.

One of the things in his campaign.

Dan Pfeiffer
That's so funny.

Amanda Lippmann
Yeah, he's great. One of the things in his campaign, besides democracy, was that a number of prisoners had died in residence at the county jail system that the county commission oversaw, and he made that a core part of his campaign.

Justin won by just about 150 votes.

Justin flipped control of the county commission for the first time since the early 19 hundreds in over 100 years.

One of the first things Justin did was expand the number of ballot drop boxes in Dauphin County.

Justin is making sure that ballots are available in Spanish and Nepalese and Bhutanese.

He's ensuring that the anti democracy and republican incumbent he beat has no control over whether the election is. Is certified.

Justin and the old county commissioners that he is part of are gonna make sure that Joe Biden is able to fairly win the election in Pennsylvania this year and win the White House.

Dan Pfeiffer
When run for something started in 2017, right after Trump won, you became a vehicle for this tremendous sense of activism among people, like, what can I do? And you facilitated people who were looking for something to do to run profits at all levels. Right. And there was a huge burst of people who wanted to do it in the ensuing years. Right. We, you know, especially since 2020, there has been this sense that a lot of people have disengaged from politics. Either they thought, Trump is gone and I'm exhausted and I can take a break. He's back, or they're maybe just burned out, cynical, whatever else. What's it been like trying to get people to run for office this year in this environment?

Amanda Lippmann
Would you believe that we have built a list of almost 160,000 young people in all 50 states who want to run for office?

It is, as far as we know, the largest candidate pipeline of the Democratic Party.

Thousands of people have signed up just in the last few months. They believe we're going to still have elections in 2025, and they want to be on the ballot when we do.

Dan Pfeiffer
That's amazing. You spent, you know, a lot of the candidates you work with are young candidates. Right. You've really focused on young progressive candidates.

All of the polling, of the polling, we believe, suggests that one of the challenges for the Democratic Party right now are young voters, progressives, but also young voters writ large. What advice do you have for democratic candidates running anywhere about how they can bring democratic voters back into the fold? Young voters back into the fold.

Amanda Lippmann
Talk about the things young voters care about. It really, in many ways, is that simple. Housing.

Young people disproportionately feel the impact of the cost of housing, especially because young people are renters and we do not have enough renters in elected office. So when we have conversations about housing, it's a lot of landlords, abortion, access.

You know, I'm still technically a young voter. I'm six months pregnant. Reproductive health is on my mind.

Dan Pfeiffer
Congratulations.

Amanda Lippmann
Mid October due date. It's gonna be crying in my house either way.

You know, think about the things that are really affecting young people. Now, even, you know, here in New York, public transit could go on a whole rant about congestion pricing, but, boy, Kathy Hochul's making it real hard.

No, I think it's, in many ways, young voters really want to hear people talk, hear our politicians in our party talk to us about the things that directly affect our quality of life. Which is not to say that democracy isn't part of that. It absolutely is. And it's not to say that restoring the soul of America is part of that, too. Sure. Kind of. Some of us are like, hit or miss or what? The soul of America. Is it good?

Dan Pfeiffer
Is it bad?

Amanda Lippmann
I don't know. But for most young people, they just want someone to tell them, like, I can fix the things that are bothering you. I can give you hope. I can show you that there is a path to a better community and a better place to live. That's why local candidates can really drive us.

Dan Pfeiffer
Is that recommendation that granularity is important? Specificity is important. You made a mention of the democracy message. Is there a sense that for a lot of young voters, I think maybe for a lot of voters, the democracy message may sometimes ring hollow because it becomes an endorsement of a political system that a lot of young people felt has not worked for them.

Stacey Abrams
Yeah.

Amanda Lippmann
You know, you think about someone who's 18 in 2024.

They've never known a political environment without Trump.

They've never known a democracy that felt like it was reflective or representative of us.

I think it's one of the reasons why we've seen young voters or young candidates be such powerful drivers for young voters. Both practical, tangible. Oh, this is someone who, when I say I'm really pissed about XYZ issue, is going to personally understand it because they have dealt with it. But also, this is someone my age, my cohort, like, maybe I play basketball at the gym with them. Maybe our kids play soccer together, whatever it might be, who cares enough and believes enough in the possibility here? And I think it's one of the best things about this work, is it is so optimistic and so hopefully to see young people who don't believe the system is broken.

Dan Pfeiffer
Okay, John. John and time. We're not the only ones with book news. You have an upcoming book with us for crooked media reads. It's still in the works.

Amanda Lippmann
Super. Not done yet. I hope my editor's not here.

Dan Pfeiffer
In this book, you're exploring generational leadership shifts. Can you give us a little preview of what you'll be covering in the book?

Amanda Lippmann
You know, I'm pretty behind, but I am writing a little bit about what it looks like, like to be the boss whose employees follow you on Instagram.

Or, you know, take me for an example to try and take maternity leave as the boss or, like, run for something. Does believe that work life balance is really important and want to implement as we have a four day workweek and actually put that into practice.

You know, when I say, like, you know what a boomer leader, no offense to all the boomers, although my girls will live in the water wars. So a little offense. But when I say, like, my boss is such a boomer, you kind of know what that means.

What I'm trying to do is define what it looks like when you say my boss is such a millennial and my boss is such a Gen Z. So coming to you next May, please buy copies.

Dan Pfeiffer
All right, finally. Before we go, Amanda, you've been on our podcast many times. Crooked media and Potsdam America are huge fans of run for something. Found what you guys started in 2017 and what you've done to be incredibly smart, incredibly impactful. It is exactly what the democratic party has needed in the pre Trump era.

So many times republicans were winning races because there was not a Democrat to run against them, because we had no operation within our party to recruit and train people, no point of entry for people who said, I want to run for office. They didn't know who to call, what website to go to. Amanda and our co founders built this organization and been making a gigantic difference. And so I want to give you the opportunity to tell the people in this room and listening, not in this room, how they can help support your work. Because no matter what happens in November, good outcome, unthinkable outcome.

We need to continue to get young, progressive people running for office up and down that ballot, because that's the next generation in the Democratic Party. How can they help? Run for something?

Amanda Lippmann
Runforsomething.net donate $1, $5, $5 million. I will take it all.

And I say that somewhat jokingly, but also anyone who's been sort of, to your point earlier, existing in the political space right now is tired. And we are feeling that on the fundraising side, too. So if you believe in this work and you believe that building power, sustainable power in all 50 states at the local level matters, make a donation.

And if you are listening or you're here in the room and you're like, huh, you know, I really would like to do something about housing or childcare or abortion access or criminal justice reform or whatever issue it is. Runforwhat.net.

look up what offices are available for you to run for next year or the year after. We would love to help you because I believe that democracy is gonna win this fall and we're gonna get a lot of elections next year. And even when Trump is far gone, we're going to have all his little copycats all across the country who are running for school board and city council and state ledge that we have to beat to. And you either listening or here can be a part of that.

Dan Pfeiffer
Please give it up for Amanda Lippmann. Thank you so much.

When we come back, strict scrutiny's Melissa Murray is going to join us for some more news.

B
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Amanda Lippmann
You can do this when you angie that.

John Lovett
Hey everybody, it's John Lovett. And this pride month, I'm proud of two things, being absolutely gay as hell and the Crooked store's new pride or else collection. Also, my crossword times. I'm proud of a couple things. Crooked's Pride or else collection has incredible designs for anyone looking to show some love for LGBTQ rights. Whether you're gay or a straight ally, or a straight ally slowly realizing you're gay because of a TikTok algorithm. A portion of proceeds from every order go to cruel, Crooked's Pride or else fund in support of organizations working to provide gender affirming care and life saving resources to queer and transgender communities across America. Go to crooked.com pride to shop now. It's an amazing collection. Please go check it out, crooked.com pride.

Ted
Please welcome NYU law professor and co host of strict scrutiny, our pal Melissa Murray.

Tim Miller
What a standing ovation for the people at home.

Ted
So today was a day like so many others in June, where sickos like us maniacally refreshed our feeds at 10:00 a.m. eastern. 07:00 a.m. pacific in anticipation of Supreme Court decisions that usually make us angry when they come and angry when they don't come.

Wednesday morning was slightly different in that the court rejected a challenge from Republicans in Missouri that would have prevented the federal government from simply asking social media companies to remove misinformation from their platforms. But despite the court's term, usually ending in June, which is almost over, despite american democracy hanging in the balance, we still don't have the immunity ruling or about ten other important rulings. So, Melissa, we'll get to all of that. But first, how big of a deal was the six three ruling in Murthy versus Missouri?

B
Okay, well, thanks for having me. This chair is really deep. I feel like Martha Ann Alito made this so I could feel like a child sit up. So Murphy versus Missouri is a really important case about social media. It should be understood in tandem with a couple of other cases that the court said still has not yet decided. These net choice cases. I think those may come down in the next couple of days. But the case was decided on procedural grounds. The court said that the litigants, which were two Republican state AGs and then a handful of social media users who said that Facebook and Twitter moderated their content to root out their Covid-19 conspiracy theories, the court said they didn't have standing. So it was a purely jurisdictional question.

We didn't actually get to the substance of whether the government can lean on social media platforms to do better content moderation. But because it was a standing issue, this could come back at a later time. It may come back in the future. I think the biggest thing that this case did was that it allowed the court an opportunity to once again smack down the Fifth Circuit, which I always appreciate.

And they did it in really excellent form, like on strict scrutiny. We refer to the Fifth Circuit as a meth lab of conservative grievance. And the court seemed to agree with us. They basically said that this case, there had been no discussion of any of the facts that might lead to questions of standing, whether these were the right litigants to bring this case to federal court. And so Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority, and she said, you know, this is not a fact.

And I guess that was encouraging.

Ted
Were there any hints in the decision about how they saw the substance of the case, or is it just purely standing?

B
Mostly standing. The dissents, though, were really interesting. There was a big dissent by Justice Alito. And I mean, wow.

Dan Pfeiffer
Get out. Really?

Ted
That guy.

B
That guy. So he wrote this dissent where he just basically railed on the Biden administration and specific members of the Biden administration by name. So he name checked Joe Biden, he name checked Jen Psaki, name checked the surgeon general, and basically talked about all of these people trying to censor conservatives. I mean, it was almost like a fox grandpa getting a chance to write a supreme Court opinion.

Dan Pfeiffer
Think of them as people who might be upset about someone putting a flag on their house, that kind of thing.

Ted
He is deep in the comment section, huh?

B
He's. Yes, he's long time lurker. First time caller. Yes, exactly.

John Lovett
I wanted to ask you about the dissent because, first of all, you dip into Alito, and he's just mad all the time. He's mad all the time.

B
But why? He's 70 something years old. He has the skin of a 50 year old. This man looks amazing for his age. No, seriously, check it out.

John Lovett
Yeah. It's like maybe you get everything you want and then you're unhappy. But something that. Something for him and his therapist, he doesn't. These people are not in therapy. But what was the. I wanted to ask you about the dissent, because the meth lab right now is contained to the fifth Circuit. But in the dissent, he doesn't just name check people. Right? He says, ugh, these bozos writing the majority, they didn't even entertain the actual substantive question. But I will, and I actually think on the merit. This is a violation of the First Amendment. Does that tell you, like, I mean, it does seem like everyone's like, oh, this, this opinion is, this fifth circuit opinion is ridiculous, but not ridiculous to three people already.

B
So not ridiculous to three people who would be very happy to reach the merits of this case. And a dissent like that is essentially a roadmap to future litigants. Just find better plaintiffs who can actually make out plausible claims of injury. And then here's a path to deciding this on the merits and turning this into a First Amendment violation. So I think that's a big part of what this was.

Dan Pfeiffer
Right?

John Lovett
Cause he even says, right, like, they didn't even seek damages. If they had sought damages, we could have talked about the damages. So it's like, he's like, really? Like, no, no, come back and we'll.

We'll get rid of any bounds on what you can say online.

B
They do this all the time. The conservatives are always doing this. In the Mifa Pristone case, Thomas and Alito were basically asking the solicitor general to identify who would be a better set of plaintiffs. And thankfully, she was like, I don't work for you. I work for the attorney general. And so she declined to provide a roadmap for them. But they do this all the time. These dissents, these concurrences, are often invitations to come back. Do it better, do it again.

John Lovett
It does seem like Alito is like Heisenberg, and he does want the meth lab to go national.

B
Who is Jesse in this?

Dan Pfeiffer
Martha Ann?

B
Always.

Dan Pfeiffer
Let's say someone reads Alito's dissent, they see super damages, whatever. They get standing. What does an actual decision on the merits, in Alito's fashion, mean? The government simply can't ask Facebook to take posts down well, so we already.

B
Have a little bit of a kind of inkling of where he's going, because a couple of weeks ago, the court decided another case, NRA versus Vulo. And it was decided much earlier in the earlier stage of litigation. But basically what had happened was Maria Vulo, who's a New York state official, leaned on some insurance companies, some banks, to basically stop doing business with the NRA in the wake of the parkland shooting. And the NRA sued, saying that you can't do that if you're a government official. And the court, in a very narrow, unanimous decision written by Justice Sotomayor, said, yeah, the government can do its job. It can't use its position to lean explicitly or to coerce another entity to do something. And I think that's basically what Justice Alito is looking at. And he said specifically that Vulo should be the template going forward.

Ted
So, Tommy, does this seem like a defeat for the forces of disinformation?

Tim Miller
It seems like a mixed bag.

John Lovett
I mean, like, I think.

Tim Miller
I think setting the government aside, I mean, I think the challenge with disinformation at the moment is the platforms.

Speaking of Justice Alito's skincare, I think a couple weeks ago, I saw that on TikTok, a bunch of influencers were saying that you don't actually need sunscreen to prevent skin cancer.

That sunscreen can give you skin cancer.

Dan Pfeiffer
There was one famous person behind this, right?

I don't know.

Tim Miller
Anyway, so, like, no dumb idea won't go viral over there. So TikTok's a problem. I think meta is sort of washing its hands, of all things, content moderation. Twitter is obviously a disaster. I mean, we have, like, Elon Musk is the number one super spreader of disinformation. They. I think they fired their whole trust and safety team. They've changed the verification process so that any bozo can pay $8 for a blue check and get algorithmic amplification. And then if you go super viral, you can actually make money on your posts. So every time I see in the news, like, something happened in Gaza, there will be an account that is sharing a video from 2015 in Syria that they purport to be from today because they'll get paid off of that. So I think the platforms that are disaster, I think that you're seeing academics get in the crossfire of the political discourse here. I think Stanford just shut down a research lab that was focused on disinformation, and you have republican members of Congress crowing that, like, in the name of free speech, we just killed all this free speech and research. So I feel like the trajectory of our broader efforts of preventing the spread of disinformation are getting pushed aside because institutions are not prepared for the political fallout.

Ted
It doesn't seem like we're going to be able to address the supply of disinformation at this point because it's in so many different platforms, it's so many different places. And whether people, whatever the Supreme Court ultimately decides, if it comes back to them, there is legal pressure. The Stanford Internet Observatory shut down because of this legal pressure and because of pressure from people who are funding it. So it's just like, it does feel like it's becoming very, very difficult to just actually go after the different sources of misinformation and deal with the platforms unless we're going to actually regulate them, which is also difficult.

Tim Miller
And there's very legitimate questions about what role the government should play here. I mean, in terms of censorship, free speech, First Amendment rights, you can imagine a scenario where a Trump administration is shutting down disinformation that says things like, hey, you lost the 2020 election, so we have to be careful on that part. But I think, broadly, there's a lot of non government actors here.

John Lovett
This is also just like, what we're talking about is so far, like, this is about individual staffers and people in the government seeing vast amounts of misinformation already on the Internet and, like, desperately trying to do triage. Like, if you're at the stage where you're reaching out to Facebook about individual posts that are going viral, you've already lost. We've already lost. Like, that's a, that's a, you know, that's a. I'm gonna say it. You're gonna be little immature about it, but it's like putting a finger in the dike.

Ted
I can't do it, Dan.

Dan Pfeiffer
Yeah, I mean, that's sort of the point, because.

Ted
Do you have a metaphor?

Dan Pfeiffer
I don't know how I follow that.

Ted
But I was gonna say it's like whack a mole, but, yeah, whack a mole.

Dan Pfeiffer
Yeah, that was the one I was gonna use. But anyhow, like, even in a world in which we get the right decision in the whatever the future case is on this, all it's saying is platforms will still make the decision. So ultimately, we are still. Our solution as a society for limiting the spread of disinformation is to bet on the goodwill of tech billionaires.

And then, in the course of world history, that has never worked. Right. Just betting on the rich rich, the oil, betting on rich rich business barons to make decisions counter to their financial self interest is not a good strategy. And I think ultimately, the way we're going to beat misinformation and disinformation is not to stop it at the source. It is to invest our time and energy into countervailing factual, positive and making our own.

Ted
Damn it.

John Lovett
We're going to make our own. Make our own.

Ted
Okay, Melissa.

So the counts vary somewhat, but it seems like there are about ten opinions left to be released. What are the big ones? Other than immunity? We'll get to immunity.

B
So there are a couple of really big cases involving the future vitality of the administrative state. So one, SEC versus Jarkesey, which is about the SEC's ability to do in house enforcement adjudication. That's how most SEC cases are adjudicated. That will be huge. There's another set of cases, two consolidated cases, relentless versus Department of Commerce and Loper bright enterprises versus Raimondo, which are about whether in circumstances where a statute is ambiguous, whether it's the agency who has the opportunity to determine and resolve that ambiguity, or whether a judge, a Trump judge, should be able to do that. It's the Chevron doctrine, so that hangs in the balance. There's a major case on homelessness grants pass versus Johnson.

There are major cases involving environmental law, Ohio versus EPA, which is about the good neighbor rule. If you've watched the Lion King, this is basically the Pumbaa rule. Whereas states that are upwind have to take precautions to ensure that their downwind neighbors don't bear the brunt of smog or air pollution. So a lot of really big cases, some of them, I think, too wonky to really get into on mainstream media, which is why you hear about immunity, you hear about mifepristone, but you don't hear about these other cases. But these are the cases that are about government as we know it, whether we have clean air, clean water, whether government can regulate, or whether we're going to allow judges, unelected judges, to make these decisions.

Ted
And it does seem like that the court later today may have accidentally posted a decision on a major abortion case in Idaho.

What happened there?

B
So you've got to ask at this point, who's doing it at the court?

Right?

Is it Martha Ann? Possibly so, yeah. If you were refreshing this morning, I did not refresh hard enough to catch this, but apparently the court inadvertently uploaded the opinion in Moyle, which is the emtala case. Emtala is the emergency medical Treatment and Labor act. It's a federal law that requires when you present at a federally funded hospital, which is most hospitals, since they mostly all take Medicare and Medicaid funds, you have to be served with emergency treatment that's appropriate, stabilizing emergency care, including abortions. And that has to be done even if you are in a state with a draconian abortion law. Like Idaho, for example. At oral argument, when this case was argued, it seemed very clear that the conservative supermajority on the court was really skeptical about the prospect of women needing emergency abortions in cases of miscarriage or whatnot. And, you know, in their infinite medical judgment, the justices were sort of like, can't she just, like, wait, maybe die? I don't know all of that. But it seems from this uploaded opinion that the court has made a decision to punt this case. They've decided that they are going to do what is known as a dig.

They've determined that certiorari, or the court's decision to review this case, that decision was improvidently granted. And usually a dig happens when the court determines after oral argument, after review has been granted, that the circumstances are such that further adjudication would be improvident. So a dig is very unusual, right? It doesn't happen that often, and I've never really seen a dig happen so many months after oral argument. Right. So, I mean, usually if you determine that there are circumstances that would require a dig, it's pretty obvious on the face, and we all do.

John Lovett
We all know that. And we all know what improvident means, right?

B
Well, I know about.

John Lovett
We all know, but just in case somebody listening and they don't want to feel dumb.

B
I assumed you knew because I know about your LSAT.

John Lovett
Yeah. No, I'm saying I know. We know, but they don't somebody out there that they all know, but somebody.

Stacey Abrams
Might not be alleged.

Ted
LSAT score.

B
But, well, I mean, he always tells me about it. I know that's, you know, so, like, we shouldn't have taken this case like, so a Mulligan, essentially. Let's, let's just call it a Mulligan. Do you want to hear my crazy, cockamamie conspiracy theory about this case?

Ted
Of course, yes.

B
Okay.

Amanda Lippmann
All right.

Dan Pfeiffer
Because I don't. So I want to say, what did Lovett say?

Ted
We're creating our own misinformation. That's what. Dan advocated it.

B
Let's do it. So here's my theory of this. The court got rid of the mifepristone case not by deciding it on the merits. Whether the FDA properly regulated mifepristone. They ditched it on standing grounds, like not the right plaintiffs, not a clear claim of injury. And then this case gets digged, like dismissed as improvidently granted a Mulligan, if you will.

I think they know that abortion drives women to the polls. I think they know that abortion gets undecided voters out and it galvanizes support in electoral politics. And I think they've looked at the calendar and they realize November is coming.

Dan Pfeiffer
Yeah, 100%.

B
I think this is true. And I think they're trying to figure out a way to get the court out of the crosshairs of electoral politics. And if they decided this the way I think it looked, like it was going at oral argument, it would have galvanized so much support among women. I mean, like they're basically asking, just go die. Go to a parking lot and wait till we tell you you can have this abortion. And I think they just didn't want to do that. Justice Jackson writes a barn burner of a concurrence slash dissent where she says, I don't believe this was improvidently granted. I believe you bitches wanted to get to this and you took it. And now let's decide it because you broke it, you buy it. Like you need to decide this.

Dan Pfeiffer
And yeah, I mean, the lesson here that clearly the court took from DobbS and all the political repercussions was not that you shouldn't take a constitutional right away from half the country, it's that you shouldn't do it in an election year.

B
I mean, and John Roberts said this at the oral argument in Dobbs. He's like, listen, can't we get to some kind of compromise where we uphold this cockamamie MIPs law, but we don't go all the way and overrule Dobbs. Wouldn't that be better? Because there's an election coming, the midterms, and they wouldn't listen to him. Millions of women were energized by Dobbs, and they went to the polls. I think they see the same thing happening now. Abortion is a salient issue for elections. And Justice Jackson said this in her concurrence slash dissent. She said, you know, there's comparatively a more convenient time for us to get to this. And make no mistake, we will get to this. We're not getting to it now because they've decided it's improvident to do so. But we will get there. And there's already another case coming out of, wait for it, the Fifth Circuit. So this is going to come back to the court. It'll just come back after November. So don't be fooled. Don't listen to all of the folks who are like, this is a moderate court on abortion. They want to take this issue out of the public discourse around this election. I don't even know if it was a mistake that it got uploaded the day before the debate where the one thing Joe Biden needs to hammer is that Donald Trump is responsible for whatever is happening on abortion.

Dan Pfeiffer
Sleeper cell it person well, I was.

Ted
I mean, I was going to ask, like, on that note. So we're recording this Wednesday night. The debate is Thursday night. Tomorrow morning, Thursday morning, there's going to be more decisions. There will also be decisions Friday, and then there will be decisions, I guess, Monday. And we don't know what's going to happen beyond that.

What decisions could be released tomorrow that would provide fodder for either candidate at the debate tomorrow night? And, like, how likely do we think that this court's going to release any decisions tomorrow morning that could potentially be fodder for the debate tomorrow night? Because it doesn't seem like they would drop the immunity. But now I'm thinking of some of the other ones. Like, any case that would help Joe Biden make an argument against Donald Trump at the debate, it seems unlikely they would drop that tomorrow morning.

B
So maybe they dropped the Emtala decision, since we all seem to know right now. So, yeah, it's out there. Cats out of the bag. Like, let the chips fall where they may.

Housing prices are so high. Maybe they released the case on homelessness and, like, make that Joe Biden's fault, possibly. I think it's very unlikely that the immunity case comes out for obvious reasons, although they could literally be, like, gremlins where they got wet and ate after midnight and just decided to do it. I don't know. Like, that would be the most chaos agent thing ever.

Ted
Well, there's also the case, actually.

John Lovett
The eating after midnight would make them gremlins.

The getting wet would make more gremlins.

B
Is that what happened?

John Lovett
Yeah. The eating after midnight turns gizmo into Gremlin.

Tim Miller
Right.

B
I actually never watched this movie. Oh, I just, like, know this.

You raised it. It seems like you raised it on the LSAT.

John Lovett
You raised it improvidently.

B
I did.

I wish you were back on the island.

Ted
The one I was wondering if they would release tomorrow morning would be Fisher, which is a case about the January 6 insurrectionists. And they were charged with obstructing an official proceeding. And they could throw out those charges. It seemed like they were leaning that way in oral arguments. And that would take away two of the four charges that.

B
Not necessarily. Okay, so the Fisher case is about the statute, part of the Sarbanes Oxley act that was passed in the wake of Enron. And it makes it a crime to crime corruptly obstruct an official proceeding. And the question in Fisher is whether obstructing the certification of the electoral college is the sort of official proceeding that the statute's writers had in mind. Or was it something like evidence tampering or witness tampering? Like the kind of thing that happened around Enron. And so this is gonna turn this court's would be textualists into nots. Because on the face of it, this is straight up textual healing. Like, obviously, this should apply.

But if you're textual ish, you know, you might not necessarily go this way. Especially if January 6 hangs in the balance. The reason why I think it doesn't necessarily have to apply to Donald Trump is that the charges in the January 6 indictment are not simply about interrupting the certification of the electoral college, but about advancing these slates of false electors. And that could be the kind of corrupt act that would fall within the scope of the statute. And so.

Ted
Cause that was even more. That would be even more textualist. Because in the statute, it says, like, you can't certificates, right? Like, that's.

B
I mean, when you get that feeling, you need textual healing, and you have to do that.

So, you know, again, maybe because I'm not sure how it necessarily works for Donald Trump. I don't think it's a get out of jail free card for him, even if they side with the rank and file. January 6, though, at that point, he.

Ted
Would just say he would say the prisoners, the patriots of January 6. The court just ruled today they're exonerated.

Tim Miller
And that's not going to help him. We all have eyes.

Dan Pfeiffer
Yeah, I was gonna say one. It would be, it would help the members of his favor choir, so. But if, if that it that possible resistance member who handles it at the Supreme Court is listening, that is a decision that would be good for us to have out, because there's nothing we would like more than for Donald Trump to be talking about the patriots of January 6, please, on a debate stage in front of 50 million people.

John Lovett
And if that it person is listening. I don't know if they are, and you know they are, and you know they are. I don't know if this would help, but please try turning the Supreme Court off and then back on.

Ted
So SCOTUS continues to do Trump a solid on Jack Smith's January 6 case by continuing to punt the immunity ruling. Judge Eileen Cannon keeps doing everything she can to slow walk Jack Smith's other case, which is Trump's stealing classified information. Can you take us through the latest on what Canon has been doing and how this might be different than what other federal judges would do?

Tim Miller
Did you see the new picks today?

New Mar a Lago picks just dropped.

B
Oh, I did see those.

Tim Miller
All the classified boxes, like, spilled over on the side.

B
I grew up in Port St. Lucie, Florida, which is right next door to Fort Pierce, where this courthouse, it's a wacky place. So I'm never entirely surprised by what Judge Cannon does. I mean, one, she's not a very experienced judge. And when I say this on MSNBC, people always get into my mentions, like.

Dan Pfeiffer
Stop making excuses for her.

B
I'm like, I'm not making excuses for her. I'm basically saying she's not that smart about this. But she's not an experienced judge on criminal matters. And so I think a lot of what we're seeing, it's either a lack of experience, she's out over her skis, or she literally is in the bag for Trump, or some combination of both, which I don't discount either.

She's been doing a lot recently. So one thing that she's doing that I think most federal judges do not do is that she's making no use of the federal magistrate judge to whom she has been assigned. Like, typically, if you're a district court judge, you get assigned a magistrate judge. This is not an article three judge, but an article one judge that basically does a lot of article three functions. So they do a lot of pretrial hearings. They will handle evidentiary motions and things of that nature, and they basically do a lot of the managerial work that clears space for district court judges to do their work and keep cases going on track. Bruce Reinhardt is the magistrate judge who's been assigned to her. He's also the judge that signed the warrant for the search of Mar a Lago. So it's probably real awkward for her to go to Judge Reinhardt and ask him to help her take on some of these issues, and so she seems to not be relying on him again. It seems like an unforced error for a district court judge because it frees up a lot of time and keeps things moving.

Last week and this week, she had a couple of really odd hearings where she invited, essentially, Amiki to come into court and to argue an issue that I think has been asked and answered by the Supreme Court and other federal courts, like whether the appointment of a special counsel is constitutional or not. I believe this was decided in United States versus Nixon many years ago and has subsequently been reaffirmed by various federal courts, including the DC circuit, a decision that the Supreme Court declined to review later. So it seems settled.

Ted
Something she could have googled.

B
I mean, could have been an email. Right?

John Lovett
And did you say Amiki at friends of the court? Is that what that is?

B
Yes.

John Lovett
I'm just. I just. I.

If people just heard that term and they weren't sure what it was, tell me.

B
You don't listen to strict scrutiny. Without telling me. You don't listen to strict scrutiny.

John Lovett
I'm helping them. I knew the term. I knew that. You heard that. I knew the term.

B
Your LSAT score again, I'm just.

Tim Miller
There's a big amicus or amicus debate that needs to be.

John Lovett
Did you say amicus or amicus?

You go back and forth.

B
I think I sometimes go back and forth. I want to be inclusive.

Tim Miller
Okay.

B
Yeah. So she's doing that. She had another hearing this week about whether or not the funding structure for the special counsel, what's constitutional. Also asked and answered by a case this term at the supreme court. So just seems to be, like, having a lot of hearings, and I guess that's fine if the question of this case getting to trial weren't so urgent.

Right.

Ted
I was wondering why she's doing all this. Because, like, didn't she. The case is not happening before the election at this point, 100%. So it feels like she's just spiking the football.

B
Well, maybe she's trolling us. I don't know, but I mean, I do think it's worthwhile to put a pin under this. This is the most straightforward case I know, right? This is the easy one. For real. And there are lots of people in federal prison right now for having fewer classified documents in their possession.

Ted
Yeah.

B
Right. And so.

Ted
And not obstructing justice when someone's like, hey, if you have classified documents, can you give them back? He's like, no. No, thank you.

B
Erase the videotape.

Ted
I have a subpoena. No, thank you.

B
No, I mean, so this one's pretty bad.

And again, I think you have to look at sort of. Tommy and I have talked about this, but Judge Cannon's on this case because the southern District of Florida has two judicial vacancies that the Biden administration has been unable to fill. Because for district court seats, there is a custom of requiring the home state senators to provide their blue slips to any judicial nomination. And Rick Scott and Marco Rubio have refused to sign off on anyone who the Biden administration. Shocking. I know.

When this case went into the wheel for the southern district of Florida, basically were, like, only a handful of judges who it could go to, and one of them was Judge Cannon. And lo and behold, it was Judge Cannon.

John Lovett
It was a real deer hunter situation.

If that was for you, fine.

Tim Miller
I want you to know that you got me all pissed off about the blue slip thing. And then I came into the next pod I did with these guys, and I was like, Dick Durbin is trying to bring back the blue slip process.

And that's stupid, because it means these Republicans and red states can spike these judges. And then these guys, they made fun of me.

They called. They told me I was a dork for bringing up the blue slips and made fun of me.

Ted
I don't remember specifically saying that.

Tim Miller
I absolutely remember that.

John Lovett
I mean, it sounds like something we do.

Ted
It does sound like something we do.

Dan Pfeiffer
I mean, well, look, we do know that if the nightmare scenario where Donald Trump wins the White House and the promise takes the Senate, the Republicans would continue to give that privilege to democratic senators. Of course.

B
Obviously. 100%. 100%.

Ted
So. All right, so the immunity decision. We're waiting. It feels like we're not gonna have a real January 6 trial. We might have a mini trial before the election.

Eileen Cannon.

B
A hearing. A hearing.

Ted
A hearing, right.

B
Yeah.

Ted
Eileen Cannon's doing her thing. We're not gonna have that trial. The former president was convicted of multiple felonies in New York.

We're clapping. We're clapping, but shout out.

John Lovett
And by the way, seven of the jurors are here tonight.

Ted
Hi, Hillary Clinton.

John Lovett
No.

Every one of them got a sign.

Ted
That hasn't really moved. The polls love it. You've been talking about how as much as Donald Trump should face accountability from the law, that is not going to save us. Do you want to make that case again now, since it's.

John Lovett
Look, I do think there's, like, I was thinking about this before the show, just that, like, I feel like in the end, like, Donald Trump is just the luckiest person in the history of human society, and we'll just have to face that at some point. Just never a drop of rain will ever fall on this man. What he did in a past life must have been pretty fucking amazing.

But no, look, I think there was this.

Joe Biden put out an ad. It was a great ad. It was a contrast ad about Donald Trump being convicted in all the ways Joe Biden is fighting for ordinary people. And we talked about how that had, was a change from where Joe Biden had been at the beginning of the race, where he said, like, the courts won't save us, only we can save ourselves. And I think the hope that somehow the judicial process, the legal process, the, I don't know, the moral character of primary voting republicans, like, there was going to be some path to getting rid of Donald Trump that didn't involve, once again, all of us putting on our boots and our jackets and going and knocking on doors and getting people to do it. But I think with each passing day, it is very clear that no, like, there will be no legal accountability for Donald Trump. And by the way, a media environment, this noisy and republican party, this debased, telling all of us that it's acceptable for someone convicted of multiple felonies by a jury of their peers to be the nominee, makes it acceptable to half the country. Like, that is just the reality we live in. And I think a lot of times, like, how can this be? How can this be? It is. It just is. And there'll be plenty of time for us to figure out how to slowly but surely build a politics that doesn't make the stakes feel like this and doesn't make us feel so worried all the time. But that is not our luck for the next four to five months.

Ted
Melissa wants to fly her flag right now.

Dan Pfeiffer
All right.

B
This is so dystopian. How can you wear this outfit and be so dark in your predictions?

He is true.

John Lovett
Thank you, sir.

B
He is.

So here's my take on it. Right like you're leaning in. Okay, interesting.

Ted
Okay, before you leave, for Miami, just between us.

John Lovett
Amiki.

B
You are my best. Amiki, you really are.

That's only true if Donald Trump wins, right? Because if Joe Biden wins, these cases can actually happen, right? They won't be killed by a new Trump DOJ. They can actually go forward. And if accountability is what you want, then going to the polls, getting your friends, galvanizing people for Joe Biden, should be a high priority.

Tim Miller
Good pitch.

B
That's how you get accountability.

John Lovett
Oh, absolutely. Less these trials continue, I'm more making the broader point that, like, we have to defeat not just trump, but this movement enough times and so emphatically that craven, valueless people who care only about winning decide that the way to win is to moderate.

Dan Pfeiffer
Right?

John Lovett
Like, a couple years ago, it was Marco Rubio saying that the future of the republican party is a cosmopolitan and moderated party that brings in people from all walks of life.

Dan Pfeiffer
Right?

John Lovett
It was called the autopsy because the party was down.

Tim Miller
You know.

John Lovett
Yeah, Marco Rubio let us down. It's like, we have to. That's all. That's the point I make.

B
I think they were just so freaked out by having a black president that they were like, we gotta have a king.

Tim Miller
Definitely.

B
And once you get to that point and, like, if that's not your bag, then this is the moment to stand up and fight.

Dan Pfeiffer
Let me give a pitch that maybe is a little more of your baser pitch for why you should get involved in this election. So you're sitting there, we've been doing this for fucking forever at this point. We've told you every election since 2017 was the most important election of your lifetime. You've been knocking doors, you've been texting, you've been phone calling. But just imagine this scenario when you're sitting on the votes of America website and you're afraid to hit submit on your email address.

We work our asses off. Donald Trump loses.

Then we get to watch Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get sworn in again. Then a few months later, Donald Trump will stand trial in Washington, DC for the insurrection.

And then he's convicted.

Maybe he goes to prison. A few months later, he leaves prison, he goes to Fulton County, Georgia, he has to stand trial again for having to overthrow the election. He gets convicted, goes back to prison. A few months after that, comes back, goes to trial for stealing classified documents, gets convicted. It's gonna be a pretty sweet 2025, people.

Ted
And then.

John Lovett
And then the primary begins.

Ted
And then. Lock him up.

John Lovett
Lock him up. All right.

Ted
And then they're old and Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas are like, we gotta go. And we've also not only reelected Joe Biden, but we've kept the Senate and we flipped the house and now we are adding more supreme court justices.

John Lovett
And then Apple makes all the chargers the same.

Amanda Lippmann
Yes.

Ted
This is the dream. This is the dream.

There we go. All right. So that's the hopeful. That's the hopeful scenario. But it only works if everyone gets out there and volunteers and donates and does everything we can for the next couple months to actually make this happen. So that is our show for tonight.

We're going to be doing a special debate reaction show tomorrow night that'll land early Friday morning in your feed. Check it out. Thank you, Stacey Abrams. Thanks to Amanda Lippmann and Melissa Murray. Thanks to Greenlight bookstore for selling our books tonight. If you haven't grabbed a copy of Democracy or else, please do it on your way out. Thank you, Brooklyn.

If you want to get ad free episodes, exclusive content, and more, consider joining our friends of the Pod subscription community@crooked.com. friends and if you're already doom scrolling, don't forget to follow us at Pod Save America on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube for access to full episodes, bonus content, and more. Plus, if you're as opinionated as we are, consider dropping us a review. Pod Save America is a crooked media production. Our show is produced by Olivia Martinez and David Toledo. Our associate producers are Sol Ruby and Farah Safari. Reed Cherlin is our executive producer. The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick. Jordan Cantor is our sound engineer with audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis writing support by Hallie Kiefer. Madeleine Herringer is our head of news and programming. Matt de Grote is our head of production. Andy Taft is our executive assistant. Thanks to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Hailey Jones, Mia Kellman, David Tols, Kirill Pallaviv, and Molly Lobel.

B
You can live out your MasterChef dreams when you find a professional on Angie to tackle your dream kitchen remodel.

Connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well, visit angie.com.

Amanda Lippmann
You can do this when you angie that.