Trump Holds VP Auditions

Paycor
This episode is brought to you by Paycor, the HR and payroll software made for leaders. It's never been harder to recruit, hire and engage workers. That's why HR leaders and frontline managers depend on Paycor for all things people management, from onboarding and performance reviews to compensation and benefits. Learn more@paycor.com leaders that's paycor.com leaders.

Jon Lovett
Today's presenting sponsor is simplisafe home security. Did you catch the Kentucky Derby?

Here's an equestrian trivia question that's sort of tongue twister question. Trivia question. Can you guess the fastest a horse ever ran?

Tommy Detour
The fastest a horse ever ran? Not the fastest horse.

Jon Lovett
Hopefully it would be both.

Tommy Detour
Seabiscuit? No, but that's a, they're asking for a speed.

Jon Lovett
I'm saying.

Jon Favreau
Right.

Jon Lovett
The fastest horse that ever ran is probably the horse that ran the fastest. Well, yeah, I'm just saying separately. I'm not, I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just noting the fact.

Tommy Detour
No, that was important clarification.

I don't know.

Jon Lovett
The answer is 43.8 mph. That's fast.

Another time where speed means everything.

Your security system's response time in an emergency, there's a nice journey got there pretty fast. And Sibley Safe's cutting edge security technology and professional monitoring gets help to your door fast. It's one reason they're named us news and World reports best home security system of 2024. And it's why they're the only system we trust. I love Simplisafe. I set up a Simplisafe system, incredibly easy to set up and to use. Highly recommend it. The system blankets your whole home in protection. It has sensors to detect break ins, fires, floods and more, plus a variety of indoor and outdoor cameras to keep watch over your property day and night. It's backed by 24/7 professional monitoring. For less than $1 per day, simplisafe professional monitoring agents can even help stop crime in real time by speaking to intruders through the wireless indoor camera, warning them that they're being recorded and the police are on the way. With no contract and a 60 day money back guarantee, you can try simplisafe risk free. Don't absolutely love it. Send the system back for a full refund. Simplisafe has given me and many of my listeners peace of mind. We want you to have it, too. Right now. Get 20% off any new Simplisafe system with fast protect monitoring@simplisafe.com. Crooked that's simplisafe.com crooked. There's no safe like simplisafe.

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

Jon Lovett
I'm Jon Lovett.

Tommy Detour
And Tommy Detour.

Jon Favreau
On today's show, the prosecution's witnesses in the Manhattan trial, including Hope Hicks, deliver damning new testimony against Donald Trump. We're also going to talk about Trump's donor retreat at Mar a Lago, where he compared the Biden administration to nazis, offered attendees a turn at the mic if they donated a million dollars, and held live auditions for his running mate, including every puppys worst nightmare, Christy Noem. Then later, vote save. Americas fearless leader Shaniqua McClendon will be here to talk about the big launch of organize or else, which is the easiest and most effective way to get involved in this election.

But first, some big developments in Gaza over the last several days. Hamas said they agreed to a ceasefire deal drawn up by Qatar in Egypt. It's unclear what the terms of the deal were, but the israeli government rejected it and then announced that they were striking Hamas targets in eastern Rafa, where they've also begun evacuating more than 100,000 Palestinians in preparation for an invasion. They also said they'll send a delegation to keep negotiating a deal. The sticking point seems to be the length of the ceasefire. Hamas wants it to be permanent. Israel does not. Biden spoke to Netanyahu just before all this happened and warned him against invading Rafael. And then a us official told Reuters that Washington is committed to stopping the invasion and that Netanyahu has not approached these negotiations with Hamas in good faith.

Obviously, a lot we still don't know. But, Tommy, what's the reason Bibi doesn't seem to want a permanent ceasefire if it would mean getting the hostages back?

Tommy Detour
Because getting the hostages back is a priority, but not the sole priority or probably even his first priority. I mean, he said repeatedly that he believes that they need to destroy Hamas and that he thinks that requires a ground invasion into Rafa because that's where the remaining battalions of Hamas fighters are and where the Hamas leadership is. The more cynical version, or read on this, is that Netanyahu is facing some political pressure from the families of hostages, but he faces even more existential pressure from the right wingers in his cabinet who want a Rafa invasion. For example, Itmar Ben Guvir, the national security minister, said, we did not attack Gaza and we got October 7, we didn't attack Rafa, and we got a precision attack. Netanyahu, go to Rafa now. So this is a guy who could pull his coalition support and topple the government, which makes net yao out of power. So there's a lot of people that think Bibi is perpetuating the war because it will help him stay in power for as long as possible. And maybe he can use that power to evade some corruption charges down the road. But that's the kind of more cynical read.

Jon Favreau
I mean, it sure seems like he's putting his own political future and his job, maybe his own freedom, I guess, ahead of the lives of hostages at this point.

I saw someone say, well, if you do that deal and then you promise to end the war, it rewards Hamas for taking hostages. But I don't know what kind of reward that is after this war already has taken so many lives and also destroyed a lot of Hamas. And then, I don't know. I think that, like, you have a chance, you have a deal to get the hostages back. I don't understand why you wouldn't take it. It's like pressure from the families. Also pressure from, like, thousands of Israelis protesting. Now, tell me, what do you think Biden should do if this deal falls apart and Israel invades? I mean, they've already started to strike.

Tommy Detour
But I mean, I. Look, it hasn't started yet. I think it's. They've been hitting Rafa targets for a very long time and they've told people to evacuate, but there's no way they're not evacuating people. You know, you're just told to, like, go somewhere else, essentially. I think it's absolutely critical that they use every bit of leverage they have now to get a ceasefire and prevent this large ground invasion in Tarafa. Again, the statistics are 34,000 people are already dead, including an estimated 13,000 children. And now the World Food Program says there is a full blown famine happening in northern Gaza. One aid crossing in northern Gaza is closed now because Hamas shelled an area near it over the weekend. The other main aid crossing is Rafa. So you have to assume that would get shut down during a Rafa invasion. So the question is, where are people going to get food from?

There are people who have now been asked to evacuate five, six, seven times with their families. They don't have clean water, they don't have sanitation. They can barely find food now, let alone fuel to evacuate or go somewhere. So you'll have people who. I talked to someone who leads an aid organization today, this morning, and she said, some people are just saying, no, I'm not going to evacuate this time. You told me to evacuate so many times, and I'm just not going to do it. So these people are going to be in the line of fire. So I just think that at this point, you cannot justify expanding this war. It is a moral and strategic and humanitarian disaster. Thousands more kids will die. And so even from the israeli standpoint, I think a rafa invasion is more likely to kill the hostages than rescue them. I think it will lead to Israel being more isolated. And I also think that this military effort is based on a false promise from Netanyahu that you can eradicate Hamas entirely through a military means. That is just. I don't think that's true. Even the israeli military says that Hamas will exist after the war as a guerrilla group, as an extremist group. They're an idea. They're a resistance occupation. And so we've learned in Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan that you can't find a military solution to a political problem, and there will have to be some sort of political talks or accommodation that gets to a two state solution. And so my priority, if I were sitting in the White House, would be to do everything humanly possible to get a ceasefire immediately and then flood eight into Gaza and then figure out the rest later.

Jon Favreau
I also understand the Israelis want to root out Hamas leadership and defend themselves from another October 7 style attack. But it does seem like you could do both of those things, or at least you have the chance to do both of those things, particularly defend yourself, without doing a full ground invasion of Rafael. Right. Like, couldn't you just, like, have a ceasefire and then, you know, there's targeted operations down the road and you. You know, all that kind of.

Tommy Detour
Yes and no. I mean, listen, I think you.

Jon Favreau
A couple things.

Tommy Detour
One, you just have to imagine, to put yourself in the israeli mindset. I do think you have to try to imagine how we all felt six months after 911, and there's a piece of this where they want, do you want to take out al Qaeda or you want to take out Hamas? But there's also just, I think, a desire for vengeance, and we should just be honest about that. There is also this tunnel infrastructure where they think Yaya Sinwar is hiding another leadership of Hamas. They believe that Sinwar is surrounded by 15 or so hostages to protect himself from some sort of military operation or airstrike. And so it's very complicated. I'm not saying any of this is easy, but I do think six months, seven months into this war, we've seen the death toll, we've seen how badly it's gone for everyone involved, and it's time to just get to a ceasefire.

Jon Lovett
I hear you on the White House ought to put as much pressure as possible on getting to a ceasefire.

How are they meant to do that when Israel's interests and Netanyahu's interests don't align? Right. Like that. That's what I'm not, I'm not saying you don't understand that, too. I'm just, that is to me, like the challenge in this, which is, you know, Biden calls Bibi just today, right, to make sure that they open this crossing.

And they're clearly trying every way they can to get to a ceasefire. But when there is a wide recognition that Israel's interest is in a ceasefire, that this is not serving the long term security and strategic interests of this country. But Netanyahu has his own equities in this. I guess I just don't understand how you kind of cut that knot.

Tommy Detour
I mean, I think what a lot of people want to see is more of a carrot and stick approach where there are real consequences for defying us requests like this that include conditioning aid or cutting off weapons shipments or fill in more recognition of palestinian statehood. The UN, there's a lot of ways to put pressure on Netanyahu. None of them are comfortable for someone like Biden, who's a longtime self professed lover of Israel and supporter of the israeli project and government. But I think a lot of Democrats want to see more of that pressure track.

Jon Favreau
Well, and Biden, I mean, in the White House readout of the call today, they said he reiterated his clear position on Rafa, which is don't invade Rafa. And when he had said that previously, he also said, or the White House had said there could be a rethinking of support for Israel. Right. So I think if they go through with this invasion, he's gotta, he can't just, like, have drawn that line and then not do anything.

Tommy Detour
After the IDF struck that world central kitchen convoy and killed seven aid workers, Biden made a call to Netanyahu that sounded like it was very difficult. He demanded several things, and Netanyahu went out and said that they would accede to those demands. I think a lot of people saw that example and thought, okay, the pressure track has been effective where six months of requests have not. So let's emphasize that more. And I think that is the right path. Clearly.

Jon Favreau
Totally. All right, let's talk about the latest in Trump's criminal trial. On Friday, Hope Hicks delivered some of the most damning testimony yet against her former boss when she revealed that Trump told her that he knew about the hush money payments to stormy Daniels and was glad the story didn't come out before the election. Trump also said that Cohen made the payments on his own, which Hicks said she believed was a lie. She then broke down into tears on the stand. On Monday, the prosecution moved on to the falsifying business records, part of the crime. They called the Trump organization's former comptroller to the stand, who admitted that Trump's reimbursement to Michael Cohen was falsely recorded as a legal expense and that Trump signed the checks. Oh, and Judge Mershon held Trump in contempt of court a second time for violating his gag order again and threatened incarceration again, saying, quote, the last thing I want to do is put you in jail. But at the end of the day, I have a job to do. And here's what Trump had to say about that after the trial.

Jon Lovett
Our constitution is much more important than jail. It's not even close.

I'll do that sacrifice any day.

That's why that juror number seven is a real sow.

And I'll say it if I have to, for the country.

Tommy Detour
I've gone from thinking Trump was terrified to go to jail to wondering if he wants to, to seem like a martyr for his people.

Jon Favreau
Now, I keep going back and forth on it, and today after that, I'm like, I'm a little more on the side of, I'm where you are, Tommy.

Jon Lovett
I don't, I still, I still don't believe it. I still think he's put on a show that he doesn't want to go.

Tommy Detour
What if he wants to sing in the j six choir?

Jon Lovett
Well, yeah, I guess. I don't know if they're taking advantage.

Tommy Detour
He's a hit maker.

Jon Favreau
He's also probably asking, you know, he's asking his lawyers, like, well, how long would I spend in jail?

Tommy Detour
Right, right.

Jon Favreau
Would it be like a day, a.

Tommy Detour
Couple days upstate or.

Jon Lovett
I don't get rid of.

I think the lack of control over face, hair, body, I think is like a big deal. I think it's a big deal for him. He wears a hat when it's windy. Now he's gonna go to jail.

Jon Favreau
Yeah. Although he's not, he knows he's not gonna get thrown in a cell with other, with other inmates, you know?

Jon Lovett
Right.

Tommy Detour
Tim and his Secret Service buddies.

Jon Favreau
Yeah. So he's probably, I can't even believe we're talking about this. Wild.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Living a fucking carnival. Stupid.

Jon Favreau
So.

Jon Lovett
Thing's stupid.

Jon Favreau
Usually we have guests with actual law degrees with us to talk about these developments. But from everything you guys have seen and read, how are you feeling about how this trial is going for Trump? Should he. Should he start measuring the drapes at Rikers or whatever?

Jon Lovett
It's not going particularly well.

The hope Hicks testimony is interesting.

There's two parts that stood out to me. One was when she first gets the emailed transcript or the access Hollywood tape, and she goes and she brings it to Trump. Trump's like, that doesn't sound like me. I wouldn't say that. And then minutes later, they had the video, which I thought was great, just, you know, anyway, he's a liar. He's a fucking liar.

Jon Favreau
That's the point of that.

Jon Lovett
But there's the part where she describes Trump telling her after it becomes public about Michael Cohen making the payments, where Trump tells hope Hicks something like, I just talked to Michael. I just talked to him. Michael did it out of the goodness of his heart, and he did it without my knowledge. He did it out of the goodness of his heart. And that's what Michael did. I just talked to him.

Also.

Jon Favreau
Good thing it didn't come out before the election and good thing it didn't.

Jon Lovett
Come out before the election, but just that kind of fucking dime store mafioso, like, getting the story straight thing just comes across. And the fact that she's breaking down as she tells us, and I'm sure is a very compelling witness, I don't think it was a good day for him.

Tommy Detour
I also like that we learned that, I think Trump apparently asked Hope to hide the newspapers that got delivered to Trump's home to keep Melania from seeing a story about his affair with Karen McDougal, which is a technique that didn't work before the Internet.

These other people get newspapers and they can call your wife.

Jon Favreau
It's so funny. But that does.

Jon Lovett
You assume Melania has a phone? I don't. I don't know. I don't know if she has a phone.

Tommy Detour
But that was interesting.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Jon Favreau
Whether Trump directed Michael Cohen to do it or whether Michael Cohen actually did it out of the goodness of his heart, Andrew Weissman was saying that it doesn't actually matter for this case because Trump knowing about the scheme after the fact and knowing about it, like, that's all they need to prove that he knew about it. He knew that falsifying the business records was in furtherance of covering up the campaign finance violation. So that's what they have to prove. It is more damning if what Hicks said is true and what Michael Cohen surely will say is true, which is of course, Trump directed Michael Cohen to do it, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, I mean, look, I'm sure that's right. Legally, because he's the lawyer and we're nothing. Right.

Jon Favreau
That's why I follow Andrew Iseman.

Jon Lovett
But just in terms of, like, the story, like, for people hearing this, like, I do think it is actually important in terms of the seriousness of it to know that, like, from the beginning he was directing this, that he, it wasn't just after the fact trying to kind of fuck up the ledger.

Jon Favreau
And I think that's why they started with Pecker, right. Because they wanted to lay that predicate that this started in 2015, 2016.

Trump was there. Trump entered into the deal with them, said, let's do this catch and kill thing with any kind of story that comes up. And so now you have to believe that Trump wanted to do that with Karen McDougal, the negative stories on his opponents, all this other shit. But when it came to Stormy Daniels, then it was just Michael Cohen acting on his own.

Jon Lovett
Some people think it's a better strategy to start with Pecker. Some people finish with Pecker. But I think in this case, you were right. I think starting with Pecker was nice.

Tommy Detour
I think big picture. Hope seemed to confirm that.

Jon Favreau
Big picture.

Tommy Detour
Trump ran a micromanaged everything that happened in his little family business.

And the idea that Michael Cohen would catch and kill an article out of the goodness of his heart does not ring true to anybody.

Jon Favreau
Well, and today, Monday, was all about the business records falsification. And that seems like a pretty airtight case, not just because of the testimony, but they also have documents. They introduce all kinds of evidence. And it's like Allen Weisselberg writing on it. Like, this is for stormy.

Tommy Detour
Caught and killed, love a dubs.

Jon Favreau
So, you know, and it's like they had this whole thing where, like, Trump signs all the checks, and then Trump's telling people, like, I want to look at every envoy. I mean, it's just, it's. There's a lot of evidence. Lot of evidence that he knowingly falsified the business records.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, well, I also just, we went into this. It's obvious the evidence was there. The facts were there was always just the question about the. This, the how novel the case was, which a bunch of liberal lawyers decided was it was novel, then it became the only case going forward, then it became iron fucking clad, and then also how serious it would be for people.

Tommy Detour
This show is sponsored by Betterhelp. How do you cope when there's something weighing on you or something you need to get off your chest. You know, the best way to do it, best way to cope is to talk about it. Not just cram it down. Not do what generations of New Englanders have done. Just stuff their feelings down. Maybe cover it with a coat of booze. No, you got to talk to someone. You got to work it out, get it off your chest. And just by doing that, you will feel better. We all carry around different stressors, big and small. When we keep them bottled up, it can start to affect us negatively. Therapy is a safe space to get things off your chest and to figure out how to work through whatever's weighing you down. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give betterhelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and 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.

Jon Favreau
Get it off your chest with betterhelp.

Tommy Detour
Visit betterhelp.com psa. Go today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp help.com PSA Pots of America is brought to you by policyGenius look, if you know anything about me, love it, it's that I'm going to die.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, that's one thing we know for sure.

Tommy Detour
Shopping for life insurance. That's why we love PolicyGenius here. Pots of America PolicyGenius is the country's leading online insurance marketplace. It saves you time and money so you can provide your family with a financial safety net. Starting today. With PolicyGenius, you can find life insurance policies that start at just $292 per year for $1 million of coverage. Some options offer same day approval and avoid unnecessary medical exams. PolicyGenius helps you compare your options from top companies, and their team of licensed experts is on hand to help talk you through it. Your work life insurance policy may not offer enough protection for your family's needs. Even worse, it may not come with you. If you leave your job at PolicyGenius, youll get unbiased advice from a licensed expert support team. They have no incentive to recommend one insurer over another, so you can trust their guidance. Check life insurance off your to do list in no time with PolicyGenius. Go to policygenius.com or click the link in the description to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save. Thats policygenius.com dot hey everyone, its Ted.

Ted
From consumer cellular, the guy in the orange sweater. And this is your wake up call. If you're paying too much for wireless service. You don't have to keep having that nightmare. Consumer cellular has the same fast, reliable coverage as the leading carriers for less and for a limited time. New customers receive their second month free when they sign up and use promo code month free by May 31. So why keep spending more than you have to? Seriously, wake up and call 1888 FReedom or visit consumercellular.com dot taxes, fees and.

Paycor
Other third party charges will apply. See website for additional details.

Jon Favreau
So Trump spent the weekend at his beach club, speaking to his richest donors and potential running mates. The New York Times got a hold of an audio recording and wrote that Trump, quote, delivered a frustrated and often obscene speech lasting roughly 75 minutes, where he compared the Biden administration to the Gestapo, called Jack Smith ugly, mocked Bill Barr and said that democrats start off with 40% of the vote because of federal employees, union members and people on welfare. The insinuation there is that democrats give government assistance in exchange for votes. Jake Tapper asked VP contender Doug Bergam about the irony of Trump making this accusation while promising tax cuts to his rich donors. And here's what he said. Donald Trump telling a room full of donors, wealthy people, millionaires, billionaires, that he's going to cut their taxes.

Is that buying votes any different?

Well, first of all, I just reject the whole premise of this idea of wealthy donors. I mean, the room of people that were there yesterday are all people that were jobless.

These are Americans that took risk, that, you know, so they're not wealthy sometimes risk everything they had to start to start a business. Well, they're wealthy now.

Tommy Detour
I was hearing that for the first time.

Jon Favreau
And that's good stuff.

Jon Lovett
That's great.

Jon Favreau
That is good stuff.

Jon Lovett
So I don't understand why you're using the w word, Jake.

Jon Favreau
I will just say there's too many clips. So we didn't use this one. Doug Mergram, just a couple days ago on Fox when he was getting interviewed by Laura Ingraham, he said that she was asking him about some Trump policy. And he's like, you know, billionaires, billionaires should want to vote for Trump because he's going to help them succeed.

Tommy Detour
Sure, why not?

Jon Favreau
I'm hoping now, Doug Bergam, I want to, he should pick Doug. All right, my boy, Doug, you're on.

Jon Lovett
You're on, you're on the, you're on the, Doug.

Jon Favreau
Think of how great it would be to have Doug Bergam walking around talking about how, like, billionaires have rights, too. I mean, I just think that's a.

Tommy Detour
Great big bushy eyebrows.

Jon Favreau
Yeah, that's what I, anyway, it sounds like a real fun event. Wish I could have been there. The Biden campaign responded with a statement that hit Trump for the Gestapo comments. But interestingly, they led with the welfare comments. You guys think those are more damaging? Or what were your thoughts on all that?

Jon Lovett
I think Trump has done a version of the gestapo, like, it might be new. It's one of those things where I heard it didn't shock me for even a second. It should have.

Jon Favreau
I mean, it should upset us.

Jon Lovett
But it sure no longer does. Cause Trump's killed that part of us. But yeah, the welfare comments, to me, I saw people comparing it to the Romney 47% comment.

Jon Favreau
Oh, the welfare stuff.

Jon Lovett
The welfare stuff. And whether or not that comparison is accurate or not, I think anytime you're, anytime Trump is in a room full of plutocrats decrying the welfare state, I think you're kind of in a good, good zone.

That's where I want to live.

I like that.

Jon Favreau
Yeah.

Tommy Detour
I think whenever you have a gaffe that reminds a press core of a previous gaffe, you have a good shot at leapfrogging a couple stages of analysis.

Jon Lovett
Right.

Tommy Detour
To like, oh, this is damaging. You kind of like, manifest the thing into being a problem. The comparison to Mitt, right, who said 47% of the country is with Obama no matter what.

I actually think Romney's comments were worse for a couple of reasons. He was scathing about the voters themselves. He said, he said, they think they're victims. They believe they're entitled to food.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, that was the part.

Jon Favreau
Yeah, entitled to food.

Jon Lovett
Food and housing.

Tommy Detour
People should be able to eat. And then he said, my job is.

Jon Lovett
Not, these people should have food.

Tommy Detour
Crazy talk.

Jon Favreau
Wild.

Tommy Detour
Then he said, my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility, which is like, solidified this narrative that we were pushing, that he was a plutocrat in it for his donors. Romney, though, has a conscience, and he felt bad about those comments, and he reacted in a way that demonstrated he felt bad. We later learned from his book that he thought about dropping out of the race.

Trump does not have a, turns out.

Jon Favreau
Romney was a plutocrat with a heart of gold, right?

Tommy Detour
Trump does not have a conscience. I think he says worse things than whatever he says at his donor conference, at rallies all the time because he's a narcissist.

Jon Favreau
So he'll be fine. Also, if only federal employees plus union members, plus people getting government assistance added up to 40% of the vote, and if only all those people were voting Democrat, they are not.

Tommy Detour
This is Richard Daley, Chicago.

Jon Favreau
What are you talking about? But also, in fact, like much of Trump's base, the people who are getting federal assistance, probably a lot of Trump's base at this point. Civil service, very tiny percent of the population, union members wish more people were a part of union. Not the case right now. So it's just such a, it's such an old school view of the electorate, to Lovett's original point. So damning to say all this in a room full of fucking billionaires. Who then he was like, by the way, if anyone, if anyone cuts a $1 million check to me right now, you can come up and have a turn at the mic. Ooh, you get to speak to, first of all, what a shitty.

Tommy Detour
Talk to the donors.

Jon Favreau
What a shitty constant. Like, oh, you get to talk to the donors. Wow.

Tommy Detour
A million dollars to do a toast.

Jon Favreau
And apparently no one took him up on it for a little while. And then finally he was like, the New York Times said, he seemed annoyed. He seemed upset. And then finally someone said, okay, is Jack Smith ugly? Where does this come from?

Jon Lovett
No, no.

Tommy Detour
Jack Smith, what do you think?

Jon Lovett
Jack Smith is handsome. Jack Smith, you're a fan. Yeah. It's not. I wouldn't, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have brought it up unprompted.

I don't have a poster of in my locker.

Jon Favreau
I'm not trying to go all the.

Tommy Detour
Time on you guys.

Jon Favreau
I do have a bobblehead on my desk. Yes. Someone sent us, one of you wonderful listeners sent us a Jack Smith bobblehead.

Tommy Detour
I needed a guy check on it.

Jon Favreau
I do think that, like, the whole million dollar check thing, it just sort of speaks to Trump's entire approach to politics, which is authoritarian in that, like, if you kiss his ass, you make him richer, you know, he'll do something shitty for you. Like, you can get to speak to a pinch of donors.

Jon Lovett
Yeah. And that.

Jon Favreau
It's transactional. Yeah, it's all transactional. And if not, he'll come after you. That's it. That's his whole. That's his whole schtick. So Trump's campaign team also gave a presentation at the event that reportedly included three different electoral college maps. The first one they called the media's version, which is the seven swing states we're all familiar with. The second they called actual current reality, which is just Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin as the three states in play. And then the third they called expanded reality, which said that in addition to those three, Minnesota and Virginia are also in play. I realize the Trump campaign isn't well equipped to give lessons on reality, but what do you guys think of their maps and their view on the race?

Jon Lovett
So here's what I thought. I think if we're talking about Minnesota and Virginia, okay, I guess we can eventually, if we're talking about that, we got a lot of problems. But I want to focus on their, whatever their middle scenario.

Because what I saw it and I realized, like, oh, okay. So let's say, let's just give them this. Obviously it's spin. Obviously it's bluster, but let's just give them this. So you're giving them Georgia, giving them Arizona, you're giving them Nevada, you're giving them North Carolina. Obviously this is why they're focused on that Nebraska seat. Because if you punch those numbers in, if Biden wins Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, Trump wins those other states and Biden wins one electoral vote in Nebraska, that's 200 7268. If they stop that and it goes all red, it's 269, 269 and goes to the House. So it is. I think I found it just, I saw it and I was like, oh, that's chilling. One of their most likely scenarios is the tie scenario we haven't talked about.

Jon Favreau
In a little while. It does seem like it is unlikely to happen in Nebraska because they just don't have the votes. And the governor basically said as much too. He's like, if we had the votes, we'd do it, but we don't. And then I saw that, I think one of the democratic leaders either in the House or the Senate in Maine did say that if Nebraska went forward with it, then Maine would go forward with taking their, which would undo it, basically.

Jon Lovett
And the other piece of it.

Jon Favreau
Sorry. Because Maine has their, has a split electoral vote as well. It's the only other state that does.

Jon Lovett
But that does explain why they were going for it. Right. They're looking at this map and seeing that, like, it's not like a 200 7268 is like a very reasonable outcome.

Tommy Detour
Expanded reality is kind of a great term. I know alternative facts.

Jon Favreau
Kind of. It's a good theme for the Trump campaign, actually.

Jon Lovett
Very Bush esque. Remember when they were talking, they were the reality distortion field. Remember that whole thing? Unitary executive, expanded reality. It's all one fucking thing.

Tommy Detour
I think just on the general point, though, like, I would just approach this with kind of an Occam's razor, common sense view that this is a rematch of an election from four years ago. And the map's kind of probably going to look like the map four years ago. And that doesn't mean Biden's going to win every state he won in 2020. But they'll be contested. And if Trump's team thinks that Minnesota and Virginia are in play, I would expect them to, one, spend money there and to go there when you're not in court. But, you know. Yeah, to Lovett's point, Biden won Minnesota by seven points and Virginia by ten. So if those states go to Trump, it's a landslide anyway.

Jon Favreau
Yeah, I was looking into it. I think it's an odd two states to choose. I mean, Biden, like you said, he won by seven. I think the reason they thought about it is cause Hillary only won Minnesota by 1.5. I forgot that it was that close in 2016. But the reason that Biden did so much better than Hillary is because he mostly, he got the extra margin out of the Twin Cities metro area, which are all those suburbs around the twin Cities, which are very college educated. And, like, if anything, Biden has only been doing better with college educated voters. So, like, could he do worse in, like, the Iron Range and some of the rural places in Minnesota? Yes, but, like, most of the population is Hennepin county, like, right around Minneapolis. So, like, I don't, I don't, I think that's wishful thinking on the Trump. And I think in Virginia, they're probably just thinking like, oh, you know, what's his face? Youngkin won, beat Terry McAuliffe. But I really think that was more about, I think we know now that that was more about Terry McAuliffe than it was about Donald Trump or Joe Biden or national politics.

Tommy Detour
This is the part of the campaign where the Democrats do a little wish casting. We talk about flipping Arkansas or whatever, and Republicans do the same on their side, and then we end up battling each other in Pennsylvania for four grueling months or whatever by the end.

Jon Favreau
Yeah. And right now, the polls in Minnesota, there was one survey USA poll that had Biden only up two in Minnesota, but the rest have had him comfortably ahead in Virginia. Recent polls have had it closer than the ten points he won by, but they're still mid single digits. He's got a mid single digits lead in the current reality map. I agree with Pennsylvania. Michigan and Wisconsin are the most important states. I think that Arizona should be in that category. And then I think Nevada next. And then it does feel like North Carolina and Georgia will be tougher this year, but still doable. And our friends at 538 now finally have the averages the polling averages for states, just so everyone knows, they have North Carolina at 6.6. So Trump's up by 6.6. Georgia he's up by six. Nevada he's up by five. And then Arizona's three, Wisconsin's three, Pennsylvania's two. And Michigan is actually the closest now at Trump's. Only up by a point and a half there. So tight race. Tight race.

Tommy Detour
The only good thing about North Carolina is the Republicans decided to nominate Mark Robinson as their gubernatorial candidate. And he is a bonafide, just nutbag. And he, you know, he called, most recent headline I read about Mark Robinson was he called Beyonce a skank. So that's the kind of press he's getting. So maybe he'll have some reverse coattails.

Jon Favreau
Well, the polls so far are showing Josh Stein really outpacing Biden even in that state, and beating, and beating Mark Robinson.

Tommy Detour
Truly have to beat that man. He's frightening.

Jon Favreau
There's been some national polls out lately. It's still basically a tide race. But one thing to keep an eye on, few high quality polls came out recently where they gave the results in terms of polling, all adults, registered voters, and likely voters. And Biden's doing better with registered than all adults, and he's doing better with likely than either of them. And that has now been a pattern where every time they have a likely voter screen, Biden ends up doing a little bit better. So people who are saying that they're more likely to vote in the election are more likely to be Biden voters, which is not a pattern we've seen.

We didn't see it in 2020.

But one theory of this is the special elections and the midterms, where democrats have been outperforming. And we keep saying, I've been saying that, well, in a presidential election, it's a completely different electorate. And so you're gonna get all these other voters who are much more Trump, tend to be more in favorable towards Trump. But it could be a situation where if there's a lower, oddly enough, if there is a lower turnout election, lower than 2020, and it starts to look a little bit more like a midterm electorate, then it could benefit Biden, which would be wild, but something to keep an eye on. All right, Trump also did an episode of Apprentice VP edition during the donor retreat where he auditioned several potential running mates who were in attendance and according to the leaked audio, made comments about each one. He even called puppy murderer Christy Noem, quote, somebody that I love, even though she keeps digging that gravel pit deeper with one of the most bewildering and damaging press tours I have ever seen. Here's a clip from her star turn on this week's Face the Nation.

Margaret Brennan
You talk about meeting some world leaders and one specific one quote. I remember when I met with north korean dictator Kim Jong un. I'm sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants. I've been a children's pastor, after all. Did you meet Kim Jong un?

Kristi Noem
Well, you know, as soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this passage, and I've met with many, many world leaders. I've traveled around the world. As soon as it was brought to my attention, we went forward and have made some edits.

Margaret Brennan
So you did not meet with Kim Jong un. That's what you're saying.

Kristi Noem
You know, I've met with many, many world leaders. Many world leaders. I've traveled around the world. I think talk extensively in this book about my time serving in Congress, my time as governor before governor, some of the travels that I've had, I'm not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders.

Margaret Brennan
At the end of the book, you say the very first thing you would do if you got to the White House that was different from Joe Biden is you'd make sure Joe Biden's dog was nowhere on the grounds. Commanders, say hello to cricket.

Are you doing this to try to look tough? Do you still think that you have a shame at being a vp?

Kristi Noem
Well, number one, Joe Biden's dog has attacked 24 secret service people. So how many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog and what?

Margaret Brennan
Well, he's not living at the White House.

Kristi Noem
That's a question that the president should be held accountable to.

Margaret Brennan
You're saying he should be?

Kristi Noem
That's what the president should be accountable to is what is. What is the number?

Tommy Detour
She's an entire dog murder platform.

Jon Favreau
I didn't realize. I didn't realize that part about.

Jon Lovett
I didn't realize that I hadn't heard that part about Commander Meade. Cricket in hell.

Jon Favreau
It's not just one proposal.

Jon Lovett
It's a whole thing. I didn't realize that she had a whole.

I'm not retreating. I'm reloading. To kill more fucking dogs.

That is insane. That is insane. I love this.

Jon Favreau
I love this. She apparently just went on Fox and said that the reason that she told this story in her book about killing the puppy was to prove that she's, quote, not like other politicians.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Jon Favreau
Okay. Mission accomplished.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Jon Favreau
You did it.

Tommy Detour
Christy Dahmer over here.

Jon Favreau
Is she intentionally trying to ruin her career? What do you think?

Tommy Detour
I like how she acts offended on behalf of the confidentiality of her imaginary meetings.

Jon Favreau
I am not going to elaborate on.

Tommy Detour
My meeting that didn't have it. I've really never seen anything like this.

Jon Favreau
I mean, I can't believe why she continues to do the interviews.

Jon Lovett
Cause she don't. She only has so many. This is. She's in the early.

This is training for. In front of Trump. They are going out in front of Trump and demonstrating that they can handle the press, that she had to do it just to get out there. But, man, the other thing, too, is it's okay to just say, yeah, we muffed it. It's a fuck up. It's a fuck up. It combined two stories I didn't notice in the edit. Obviously, I didn't meet with Kim Jong un.

Tommy Detour
What I love about this, you chose.

Jon Favreau
To write the book.

Tommy Detour
I know they're trying to blame the ghostwriter now, but she also.

Jon Favreau
She read the audiobook herself.

Jon Lovett
By the way.

Jon Favreau
I didn't hear that. That's so funny.

Jon Lovett
By the way, are we being.

Jon Favreau
Is this our own hubris?

Jon Lovett
I know.

Jon Favreau
I know.

Jon Lovett
Because we have a book coming out that we all read and we can't play. We can try to blame.

Jon Favreau
Don't put that into the.

Tommy Detour
I'm blaming Josh right now.

Jon Favreau
But look, I will say in my chapters that I read, I didn't notice anything. I can't speak for you two.

Jon Lovett
I don't know.

Tommy Detour
I don't know about you guys. When I read our chapters, I didn't disassociate.

Jon Favreau
I heard what I said.

Jon Lovett
I caught a couple more typos that we fixed.

Jon Favreau
And if I read about my meeting.

Tommy Detour
With Kim Jong un, I might think to myself, huh, was I one of, like, a half dozen living us officials to ever meet with this guy? Was I the only member of Congress to ever meet with Kim Jong un? Did I accidentally get on a plane with Dennis Rodman and not realize until I landed in Pyongyang?

Jon Favreau
No.

Tommy Detour
Okay, well, let's fix it. But to your point, the lesson of the Trump era is, like, you can't back down. You can't let the liberal media see you sweat. And she also. So she can't cancel her interviews. She can't apologize. So she just has to do this.

Jon Lovett
Idiotic, so defensive.

Jon Favreau
Her book is called no going back. I guess that's right.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, it's real. Like it. I don't. It is also, I think, wrong. Right? Like, I think it's like an overlearned lesson. Like, I think it would have been. It's so defensive and kind of politician y to be like, well, I've met with many world leaders, and we're gonna go take a look at that. Just say, like, oh, yeah, it's obviously a mistake. I didn't meet with Kim Jong un.

Tommy Detour
Well, she's like, I was interrupted 36 times.

Jon Favreau
Although even admitting that the problem is exactly what Tommy just said with the audiobook. Right.

You can't be, like, obviously admitted. Why did you say it?

Jon Lovett
Right? Cause I think then it starts to introduce, like, did she confuse asian leaders? Like, what is the mistake? Because she says it combined. Because she says it was like, there's some comment somewhere about, like, oh, it was a combined with another part of a passage, and they didn't notice it.

Tommy Detour
Combined north and South Korea.

Jon Favreau
We've been working on that project for a long time.

Jon Lovett
I know. Well, easy to do in a fake book. Also, by the way, even when you forget the obvious ridiculousness of claiming to have met the korean dictator, that tone of these political books, these fake biobooks, like, oh, you think I can't handle meeting with a foreign leader like Putin? Well, you haven't seen these six year olds when they've had too much Kool Aid. It's like that fucking shit.

Tommy Detour
I know.

Jon Lovett
We started off as people who couldn't see eye to eye, but over a local craft beer and 2 hours of good and difficult conversation, we came to see each other's point of view. Like, that kind of shit. What's that for?

Jon Favreau
Was that in hard choices?

Jon Lovett
I was not being specific.

She put out.

Tommy Detour
She tweeted that Margaret Brennan on CB's Face the Nation interrupted her 36 times or something like that. It just turned into just this whining.

Jon Favreau
Grievance nonsense, which is just mad libs, you know, like, blame liberal media and Margaret Brennan. She's like, wait, but did you meet with Kim Jong un?

Tommy Detour
Now I'm confused.

Jon Favreau
Politico reported that, do you know she wrote her first book? This was her second book. And in the first book, her team got her to take the story of killing the puppy out. She put it back. She hire those people again? She demanded to go in the second book. And then she said the reason that she put it in the second book is because opponents in past races have used it against her, so she thought she would get ahead of the story. What?

Tommy Detour
How did the opponents know she murdered her dog?

Jon Favreau
Did she call them small place, smallest place. South Dakota.

Jon Lovett
Apparently.

Jon Favreau
It's been going around.

Jon Lovett
They were at the funeral.

Jon Favreau
You tell one person. You tell one person, you killed your puppy, you know, and then all of a sudden, it's all.

Jon Lovett
They tell two friends, and then you.

Tommy Detour
Tell two friends, and then the horses, she's killing everything.

Jon Favreau
What'd you guys think of Trump's reviews of his other potential running mates? Based on the audio recording that we.

Jon Lovett
Read about, let's do an impromptu quiz. All right. Don't look at your notes. I'm going to read you what Trump said about them. You'd say who it was.

Jon Favreau
Okay.

Jon Lovett
His name is coming up a lot.

Tommy Detour
For Vice President Rubio.

Jon Favreau
Rubio.

Jon Lovett
That is Rubio. As a candidate, he did a good job, but as a surrogate, he's unbelievable.

He wasn't a supporter of mine at the very beginning. He was saying things like, jack, this guy's a totally different.

Jon Favreau
You think we haven't read the prep?

Jon Lovett
I know you know them also by heart. All right.

Tommy Detour
But you're picking up on what I picked up on, which was that there wasn't a single interesting or insightful observation out of the entire dozen or so that were listed here.

Jon Lovett
I love your haircut. And he's a good man, too. That's Mike Lee. That was a good one. Oh, the best one. The best one is about. He said this about Byron Donald Black, member of Congress, somebody who's created something very special politically. I like diversity. Diversity, as you would say. I like diversity worth millions of dollars. All want a piece of Byron. Diversity. Diversitay.

Jon Favreau
Right out of eep.

Jon Lovett
He's having a blast up there. He's having. A guy doesn't drink.

Jon Favreau
Doug Bergam. I didn't know this. He was a supporter of my two campaigns. He's a very rich man.

Tommy Detour
Again, it's just like, he's just observations, trivia.

Jon Favreau
Elise Stefanik, a very smart person. She was in upstate New York when I met her. Little did we realize she would be such a big factor.

Jon Lovett
That was my favorite one, too.

The gnome one also is very much like, she has no chance. It's done. So he's just kind of throwing her some love.

Tommy Detour
Pity.

Jon Favreau
I love her.

He'll be making fun of the puppy shooting thing, but he's not gonna be able to resist that at some point. He's good.

Tommy Detour
Do you guys follow Magic Johnson on Twitter, by any chance?

Jon Favreau
I don't.

Tommy Detour
50 50 shot.

Jon Favreau
Okay.

Tommy Detour
It's like, it's so bad. It's good. He has these utterly. He just tweets about the NBA in ways that are like Celtics shot more tonight, got more points, therefore won. That's what it reminded me from Trump. Anyway.

I don't know why I even raised that at this audience.

Jon Favreau
I thought you were going to say that magic Johnson tweeted about the puppy killer.

Tommy Detour
Well, hopefully he will, with any luck.

Jon Favreau
What?

Tommy Detour
This reminded me of when I had Alyssa. When Alyssa guest hosted when you guys were in DC the other week, she talked about the VP selection process she ran for Carrie and Obama and how focused they were on confidentiality and making sure that these people who you asked to, like, tell you all their darkest secrets and do all this vetting information aren't humiliated by leaks and things. And then you have Trump, which is. He's doing the exact opposite. But I wondered, could this be kind of a machiavellian way to get as much dirt as you can from all your potential rivals? So it's sitting there in a little folder in the future, if they ever criticize you.

Jon Favreau
Think about it. Yeah, I mean, I think Trump doesn't need any material to ruin someone's political career. She makes it up. She calls David Pecker.

Jon Lovett
She put one of the most damning things I've ever seen a politician been accused of in her own book.

Tommy Detour
She made it easy.

Jon Favreau
Yeah, that's true. Did it to herself.

Tommy Detour
That's fair.

Jon Favreau
Anyway.

Jon Lovett
No, but I do. It is interesting that Trump has sort of steamrolled all these places where we used to have seriousness, and I think that's obviously been very damning. But I remember when Carrie was choosing between Edwards and Gephardt. Remember the New York Post ran a cover that said, gephardt is picked and they got it wrong and it was secret and it was important, and everyone took it really, really seriously. And I don't know, they realized that.

Jon Favreau
Gephardt killed that puppy.

Jon Lovett
Right? And then. Yeah, he killed all those puppies. He just non stop murdering, libelous.

Tommy Detour
And it didn't happen.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, that's. It.

Jon Favreau
Didn't happen.

Jon Lovett
Didn't happen.

Jon Favreau
It didn't happen.

Jon Lovett
And then Trump does this with these people.

Jon Favreau
It is.

Jon Lovett
I mean, love it.

Tommy Detour
What is brilliant about it, though, is he knows that he can distract the press with this until the day he picks. He can just do this little game and dance these people in front of the press corps and his donors and make them dance for him. And he loves it.

Jon Favreau
Yeah, we'll keep talking about it. It's a blast, you know, if there's new stuff out there.

Jon Lovett
And by the way, it's free to put somebody on the list and make them feel good. It's free.

Jon Favreau
It is free.

Jon Lovett
One note before we go to break, I just want to let everybody know I'm taking a couple weeks off both on Pazzi America and love it or leave it.

Jon Favreau
And are you being vetted for the VP search?

Jon Lovett
It's happening. I'm working on something. Can't say more now. We'll tell you more about it when I'm back, but I just wanted to let everybody know we lined up some awesome guest hosts for love it or leave it, Andy Richter, Larry Wilmore, Maria Bamford, Matt Rogers, Lewis Vertel Ian, Carmel, Langston Kerman and Guy Branham. As it turns out, takes, takes a lot of people to fill these shoes.

And I'm very worried that after I get back and these shows were really very, very good, that I won't be able to run through the office screaming, I am the indispensable person. I am the talent.

Jon Favreau
Yeah. But other than that, we'll miss you.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Tommy Detour
Good luck with your brazilian butt lift.

Jon Lovett
Sure.

And you can get new there will still be episodes Tuesdays and Saturdays. Cricket.com events go to these special guest shows is someone oh, they're laughing.

Go to cricket.com events. Otherwise, I'll be back for our June tour swing starting in Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina, and then Boston.

Jon Favreau
Awesome. And when we, when we come back, we'll have Shaniqua McLendon on from Vote Save America to talk all about organizer else, which is our big 2024 volunteer operation.

Jon Lovett
Pod Save America is brought to you by Rocket money. Have you ever struggled with finding time to manage your finances at the end of a busy week, the last thing you want to do is spend time budgeting all of your expenses or tracking down customer service teams to cancel old subscriptions you no longer use. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so that you can grow your savings. All you have to do is submit a picture of your bill, and Rocket money takes care of the rest. They'll deal with customer service for you. They even have a cool dashboard that shows you this month's spending compared to last month's, so you can see your spending habits. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year. When using all of the apps features. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com crooked that's Rocketmoney.com Crooked Rocket money.com.

Tommy Detour
Crooked Pod Save America is brought to you by aura Frames looking for the perfect gift to celebrate the moms in your life? Aura frames are beautifully Wi Fi connected digital picture frames that allow you to share and display unlimited photos. It's super easy to upload and share photos via the Aura app. And if you're giving an aura as a gift, you can even personalize the frame with preloaded photos and memories. From grandmothers to new mothers, aunts, and even the friends in your life, every mom loves an aura frame. Name the best digital photo frame by Wirecutter and select as one of opera's favorite things. Aura frames are guaranteed to bring joy to moms of all ages. I have given aura frames as a Mother's Day gift before. It's a great gift. It's a great way to stay connected with someone. You can update the photos on the aura frame all the time, so it feels like, I don't know, you're spending time with someone. It's like a little window into their life right now. Aura has a great deal for Mother's Day. Listeners can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com and use promo code crooked to get dollar 30 off plus free shipping on their bestselling frame. That's auraframes.com dot. Use code crooked at checkout to save. Terms and conditions apply.

Ted
Hey, everyone, it's ted from consumer cellular, the guy in the orange sweater. And this is your wake up call. If you're paying too much for wireless service, you don't have to keep having that nightmare. Consumercellular has the same fast, reliable coverage as the leading carriers for less and for a limited time. New customers receive their second month free when they sign up and use promo code month free by May 31. So why keep spending more than you have to? Seriously, wake up and call 1888 Freedom or visit consumercellular.com dot.

Paycor
Taxes, fees and other third party charges will apply. See website for additional details.

Jon Favreau
We're back and we've got with us the president of Vote Save America, Shanequa McClendon.

Paycor
Hi. Thank you, boss. Yeah, man, Fiona came up with something really funny, and I can't remember, it was like, it'll come to you something, princess.

Jon Favreau
Politics, princess.

Paycor
No, you don't.

Jon Favreau
Politics, princess.

Jon Lovett
Start from the top. All right?

Jon Favreau
We have brought you on today not just because we like having you here and you're in town, which is always great since you're usually in DC, but because vote Save America has launched the largest electoral organizing effort, not just of the year. It says here in the air ever.

It is big.

Paycor
It is big.

Jon Favreau
Called organizer else.

Paycor
Yes, it's organizer else. So most people probably remember adopt a state from 2020, where we recruited 300,000 people to volunteer and raised $46 million that year. That's a lot of money. But this year we're doing organizer else, and it's a little bit different because we should have focused on the House a little bit more in 2020. And so we learned our lesson. And so it's our.

Jon Lovett
Don't blame yourself.

Paycor
You know, we did consult you all on what we would be focused on, but it's fine.

Jon Lovett
It's fine.

Jon Favreau
You know what? In love, it was like, don't pay much attention to New York.

Jon Lovett
I think New York's locked. New York, California, it's a lot. Don't worry. Look, if I said one thing, I said a thousand times, the New York state Democratic Party, they've got this.

Jon Favreau
They're perfect.

Paycor
Well, we learned our lesson, but this time we're not leaving anything. We're going everywhere. So Senate, caring about the White House.

Jon Favreau
The House.

Paycor
But we're also going down ballot to state legislatures, gubernatorial elections, anything that matters. But in order to do that, we had to kind of change the way that we're doing the program. And so people can go to votesaveamerica.com 2024, and they basically tell us where they live and whether or not they want to do virtual or in person volunteer events. And then each week, we'll send them a high impact volunteer event. But when they tell us what state they're in, they will be assigned to a team. Team east or west. And we just split the country along the Mississippi river, which I learned is how they do the NBA.

Yeah. And so that's how it's all split up.

Jon Lovett
So that's how they do radio stations. They don't do radio stations.

Jon Favreau
Shaniqua.

Paycor
Eastern.

Jon Lovett
It's k on one side and w on the other.

Jon Favreau
Mississippi.

Paycor
Oh, why k?

Jon Favreau
I didn't know that.

Tommy Detour
Shaniqua, east Coast, West coast rivalries have famously ended in tragedy. What's your plan to prevent that?

Paycor
You know, this could end in tragedy if Donald Trump is elected.

Jon Favreau
She's on message.

Jon Lovett
That's right.

Jon Favreau
And we are team captains.

Jon Lovett
Yes.

Paycor
I was gonna ask you all live here, but what team are you on?

Jon Favreau
It's the johns. We're taking.

We're taking the team west.

Paycor
Okay.

Jon Favreau
Okay.

Tommy Detour
Softies.

Paycor
I mean, I'm on Team east.

Tommy Detour
Thank you.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Jon Favreau
And Dan.

Jon Lovett
And Dan. Tommy and dan.

Jon Favreau
Tommy, dan, and shaniko are team. Who else do we have on team west? Anyone else?

Paycor
Alyssa is on team west. No, team east. Sorry. She's on our team.

Tommy Detour
She literally got you.

Paycor
She literally lives in New York.

Jon Favreau
I wish we could have had a draft.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Paycor
Oh, that's a good idea for next year. Fine.

Jon Favreau
We'll do that in the next most important election of our life.

Jon Lovett
We'll either do that in the studio or in the camps. We'll see what happens.

Jon Favreau
We can draft some other people.

Tommy Detour
We can think about some outsiders we want to draft.

Jon Favreau
Yeah, that's right.

Jon Lovett
That's a good idea.

Paycor
Aaron is on team west.

Jon Lovett
Hell, yeah. Nice.

Jon Favreau
Nice. Okay, great.

Paycor
Wow. Yeah, that's a really great idea.

Jon Favreau
So we're playing in 24 different states, 71 target races.

Paycor
Yeah, I know. It's a lot. I love that there's a lot to do, and that's why we need everyone to sign up. If we could get anywhere near or more would even be better. The 300,000 people that signed up in 2020, we can make sure everyone has the help they need. And we've been talking to grassroots organizations across the country, and they need volunteers. Like, they really, really need volunteers. We're going to need volunteers here in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Need volunteers everywhere. Needs volunteers up and down the ballot. So we really need people to sign up.

Jon Favreau
I will also say, like, volunteers have always been important to campaigns. Right. And a good field operation with a lot of volunteers always makes the difference in very close races. And we are gonna headed for another very close race. The country is very evenly divided, which means that even though that makes everyone nervous, that also means that whatever you do has a bigger impact. The other reason volunteering is so important now, probably more so this cycle than it's ever been, is the media infrastructure that campaigns are used to. That organizing's used to has disappeared. It is very, very difficult for campaigns to communicate directly with voters, whether it's paid ads, whether it's media, because no one's paying attention anymore. And so what ends up being most effective is peer to peer, person to person organizing, either with people, you know, people in your community or perfect strangers, and then having these conversations with people, that is going to end up making the difference in this election. So volunteering is just not like an add on thing for campaigns.

Paycor
It's going to make the difference.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, this is the hard pitch. All right, you listen, and we love it. We're so glad that you do, but you did not do all this paying attention over the last several years to not do this one step, which is sign up to be part of vote Save America. This is what it was all for. This is what all the paying attention gets us. It gets us to this moment.

Tommy Detour
This is why we podcast.

Jon Lovett
This is why we do it.

Jon Favreau
This is why we pod.

Jon Lovett
This is why, this is why we.

Tommy Detour
Download, we do 1.5 x, we skip ahead.

Jon Lovett
That's right.

Jon Favreau
Can't skip ahead to November.

Jon Lovett
Yeah, I wish we could.

Paycor
That's good. You got to do the work in the in between.

Tommy Detour
You got to do the work.

Jon Favreau
Also, speaking of doing the work, I'm.

Tommy Detour
Really smart to pick 71 races because that just sounds like you put so much thought into it.

Jon Lovett
We did.

Paycor
No, we really, really did.

I hate to use the word anal about this stuff, but what is a better word than that?

Jon Lovett
I don't know. You really drew it. Honestly, if you just say, fine, just go through.

Paycor
I hate to be so.

Jon Lovett
No, we're using this already. You're not getting it at it was the 72nd candidate, Henry Cuellar.

Paycor
You know, I don't care for that, man.

Jon Favreau
Neither does the FBI.

Jon Lovett
Right?

Jon Favreau
We're learning that today.

Paycor
I hope he has fun with whatever happens.

Jon Lovett
We all knew.

Paycor
Sorry. You know, I want to keep the house, all that.

Jon Lovett
Yeah.

Jon Favreau
Anyway, sign up if you're listening to Pod Save America and you're not signed up to vote Save America, unless you're just, like, hate listening because you're some right wing MAGA person, that's fine. But if you're listening and you're, you know, you don't want Donald Trump in the White House, this is gonna do a lot more than just listening or posting.

Tommy Detour
Also, it's really fun.

Jon Favreau
It's really fun.

Tommy Detour
People have a good time, and you.

Paycor
Can do whatever you want. Like, if you don't want to talk to people face to face, you can send text messages. Like, just tell us what you want to do, and we'll send you something to do.

Jon Lovett
I don't know. Like, maybe you say to yourself, like, oh, but I'm not really political. I just listen because I like to write fan fiction about Dan and Tommy still.

Jon Favreau
You think that's the most popular one?

Jon Lovett
I think it's. I think it's. I think it's up there with the right wing freaks.

Tommy Detour
There's me plus, yes, we Dan slash vic.

Jon Lovett
There is now.

There is now.

Jon Favreau
You just manifested it. You just put that into the world.

Jon Lovett
Wow.

Tommy Detour
You just put that into the world on my behalf, man.

Jon Favreau
Anyway, is this what you hoped for?

Jon Lovett
It was a late night at the White House.

Paycor
Oh, my gosh.

Jon Lovett
Wow.

Paycor
You know what? If people sign up and we win the election, Lovett will finish whatever he saw.

Jon Lovett
That's a deal. Honestly. Honestly, that's a deal.

Tommy Detour
There's a joke I'm trying to get at. Something about how the pee isn't always silent.

Jon Lovett
I don't know.

Wow, this is taking workshop. That one.

Jon Favreau
Olivia is like, nope, nope, nope. Cut that. I don't know.

Jon Lovett
The Pfeiffer. The pee and Pfeiffer.

Jon Favreau
Well, that's all the time we have for today. Is it? Thank you, Shaniqua, for joining Cloud Save America.

Jon Lovett
Sign up for organized or else@votesaveamerica.com. 2024 slash 2024.

Tommy Detour
We got a big URL debate brewing back here, folks.

Jon Favreau
We're letting you in on it. We got a big URL fight happening.

Paycor
Putting the soft pee in Pfeiffer is the joke.

Tommy Detour
I was thinking of pee in the.

Jon Lovett
V. Putting the hippie.

Jon Favreau
Make sure we're recording like Tommy, like.

Jon Lovett
Tommy said that late night at the White House. Let's leave that in.

Jon Favreau
All right, thanks to Shaniqua for joining us and we will have a brand new episode for you on Wednesday. Bye, everyone.

Tommy Detour
And a brand new butt.

Jon Favreau
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 Podsave America on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube for access to full episodes, bonus content, and more. Plus, if youre 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 Saul Rubin and Farah Safari. Kira Joachim is our senior producer. Reed Shurlin is our executive producer. The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick. Jordan Kanter is our sound engineer with audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis writing support by Halloween Kiefer. Madeline 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.

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

Margaret Brennan
Connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well, visit angie.com. You can do this when you angie that.

Trump Holds VP Auditions

Primary Topic

Episode Summary

Main Takeaways

Episode Chapters

1: Trump's VP Auditions

2: Crisis in Gaza

3: Trump’s Criminal Trial

Actionable Advice

About This Episode

People

Companies

Books

Guest Name(s):

Content Warnings:

Transcript