6/25/24: Biden "on something" goes NUCLEAR, RFK's VP reappears to implode

Speaker A
Welcome, everybody. After essentially disappearing from the campaign trail, Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy's supposedly brilliant and much lauded vice presidential running mate, has re emerged. And she did a very, very interesting interview with Alex Michaelson, friend of the show. And I want to look at it because, you know, if, if RFK junior s candidacy was dead before this interview, this is certainly not going to revive it. So if you're not familiar with Nicole Shanahan, let's take a tour of this interview and look at some highlights here. One of the most interesting questions to me for anybody who's involved with the RFK campaign is which states can you win? What is your path to 270 electoral votes? Because they're not leading in any state. They're only on the ballot in, last I checked, nine states and there is no mathematical path to 270 electoral votes. They quite literally cannot win. So Alex asked Nicole Shanahan, how can you win? And she said, oh, I'm not going to give away our strategy.

Speaker B
Let's talk for a moment just about how you win this thing, because I know a lot of people are looking for that. What state are you all most likely to win?

Speaker C
Well, we're not going to give away our full strategy, but, but we do have, we have a five inch thick strategy document.

Speaker A
It's already ridiculous. Which, how would you win this presidential race? You ask any serious candidate. They would go, well, here's the states we know we're going to get. That gets us to 220, and then here's the seven critical swing states. And if we get five of those seven or you know what I'm not going to give, it's because they have no path. There is no state that they can win, that we're following the top line.

Speaker B
What's the most, because there are a lot of people that want to support you, that want to donate, but that maybe are thinking they can't win. So I'm not going to support them. What do you say to those people?

Speaker C
Definitely win. We have a very thorough strategy and a path, really.

Speaker A
It's very thorough.

Speaker C
We can do it towards victory. We will be on 50 ballots.

Speaker A
They will not be on 50 ballots.

Speaker C
We have a very strong legal team, one of the most motivated legal teams to defend every ballot petition lawsuit we're receiving from the DNC. It's pacs aligned with the DNC that are.

Speaker A
All right. So you get it. Absolutely no answer. Will not mention a single state, not a single state that they can win. And anybody who's considering a vote for, for them has to understand that they quite literally cannot win. It's, it's just throwing your vote away. Even if somehow they manage to win some state that they're on, they don't have enough ballot access to get to 270. Okay, next question. Very interesting in terms of their outlook. Are Trump and Biden equal threats? What, what do you think she'll say? Let's take a listen.

Speaker B
Do you think that Trump and Biden are equal threats to the country?

Speaker C
Trump is a, is a different kind of threat, I believe, than Biden is, but both represent corporate corruption to me.

And if you look at Trump's first term in office, he never drained the swamp. He just filled it with his corporate loyalist.

Speaker B
I mean, you're a progressive Democrat for much of your life, right? And you've had this political evolution. But if you wake up on November 5 and Donald Trump is president again and there are people that think that your campaign is the reason why, could you live with yourself for that?

Speaker C
I honestly think they're almost identical.

Speaker A
And so that's crazy. I mean, listen, we've done this before. I can't do it again. One supports the basic democratic pillars of the country and one doesn't. One respects a woman's autonomy over her own body, and one doesn't. And cheers and basically celebrates Roe v. Wade being repealed. You know, I gave you the list of the 15 critical differences. That's a wacky statement that only someone in her position who's trying to say, don't vote for either of these guys, vote for us instead, even though we can't possibly win, would say the topic of vaccines did come up. And this part is very, very sketchy.

Speaker C
You know, we've been framed as being, you know, hard on vaccines. And I think what we are pro, is pro safety. We're pro safety testing science.

Speaker B
So you bring up the vaccine issue. Obviously, that's talked about a lot. We know you're not a big fan of the Covid-19 vaccine. Certainly don't think that should be mandated for people. You say if people want to have it, they should have the choice to have it. But there are also plenty of vaccines that are mandated right now. Are there any vaccines that you think should be mandated for children?

Speaker C
I believe in medical freedom. I believe that with full, true informed consent, a parent will make the best decision for their child.

Speaker B
So, for example, polio vaccine or MMR or some of these things that right now kids are mandated to get in order to get go to school. You think that shouldn't be in place?

Speaker C
I don't think mandates should exist for any healthcare decisions.

Speaker A
Now, understand that they love to play coy with this because there's a difference between a government mandate that someone be vaccinated, vaccinated versus if you want to be in a particular setting, the ground rules are, you need these vaccines. If you want to join the military, you need all these vaccines. If you want to send your kid to public school, here are the vaccines you need. You don't have to join the military. You don't have to send your kid to public school. Those are your choices. And then they get to a critical question, which is, is there any safe vaccine?

And you've got to hear her answer.

Speaker B
Speaker one, any vaccines you think are.

Speaker C
Safe and effective if you separate the vaccine schedule part and you consider whether or not there is a polio outbreak or lightly polio outbreak, that is one that I would consider as being one that I would say, let's take it to prevent further transmission. I've had all of, I'm completely updated on all of my vaccines. I have three moderna shots.

My daughter has received all of her childhood vaccines.

And I will say that both her and I have had adverse reactions.

It then begs the question, would I have done it if, knowing what I know now, and my answer is resoundingly, I would have spread them out more. I would have done further research.

I would have studied Merck's MMR vaccine much more closely as to why it was combined with mumps.

And then I would understand the commercial incentives.

Speaker A
So, listen, all of this stuff, it's like, research is good, and it's good to know everything that you're getting and all these things. But to say, I kind of think the polio vaccine is the one that is probably definitely safe. You know, DtAP, MMR, Chickenpox, hep B, polio, HIV, Hib, not HIV, PCV 13, rotavirus, HPV. She asks this question, I'd want to know more. Why was the MMR combined to include mumps? We know the answer to that. Similar timing for when the vaccine would be given. The cost effectiveness is increased coverage so people don't have to go back three times. You give them all three in one shot. Now you're covering people on three different diseases rather than them having to come back and maybe they don't. Enhanced immune response and the potential for outbreaks if you don't do all three vaccines widely in the population. So, like, we, we have an answer for that. Um, she was asked at another point, what has prepared you to be the vice president or potentially president if something. If you were vice president and something were to happen to the president, her answer isn't exactly great. And, you know, the feeling I'm getting on all this is just. She's really not cut out for this.

Oh, no. We have a clip glitch.

Speaker B
Let's spend a moment talking about foreign policy, because as vice president, if the worst case scenario would happen, you'd become the commander in chief. And I'm curious, what in your background prepares you to be commander in chief?

Speaker C
I think that I have a very sophisticated view on foreign affairs due to my previous work, both in intellectual property law. I understand how global commerce works. I understand how we build batteries around the world. I understand the importance of semiconductors. I understand that big foreign policy decisions are made specifically around semiconductors.

And I also am multicultural.

My background is one in which I've spent most of my spiritual life studying world religions.

And I think it's really important right now for us to understand and respect each other's religious alignment.

Speaker A
So, listen, you be the judge as to whether that qualifies her to be vp or president, but I get an image overall of someone who is in way over their head, and at the end of the day, they don't have the ballot access to win. So it all is seeming like an exercise in futility.

Remember last week when that MAGA nut republican candidate, Pastor Mark Burns, canceled an interview with me at the last second, sending his communications director instead, to which, of course, we said, that's not who we're scheduled to interview, so we aren't doing it. He has now put out a wild campaign video where he talks about santanic stuff. Not satanic. Okay, santanic stuff. This is a completely deranged ad. And his primary, which will ult primary runoff, which will ultimately determine the winner, is tonight. Listen to this.

Speaker D
Our enemies are operating in plain sight. Evil is on the march, and they're not even trying to hide it.

Speaker A
Forces are. Santanic forces. What?

Speaker D
Taking over our schools, preying on our children with transgender surgeries and drag queen story hours. South Carolina is being invaded by terrorists and drug cartels, and no one in DC or Columbia is lifting a thief. Our enemies in China are waging economic warfare against every american, making it impossible to afford to live here, to buy groceries, gas, or even pay the light bill. And trader Joe Biden's far left department of Defense is working to destroy our military from within.

Speaker A
Imagine believing even 2% of this is actually going on. That's who's voting for the guy. So that tells you everything. You need to know about this district in South Carolina.

Speaker D
American institutions have lost all common sense. We have a wide open border and we have entirely abandoned the rule of law. DC is taking our tax dollars and using it to fund the takeover. Let me say that again. American taxpayers are paying for the destruction of their own nation. Look at Iran and Afghanistan. We must hold responsible those elected officials who take our hard earned dollars to use them to do battle against us. It is treason, plain and simple, to allow medical tyrants that gave us the mandates and shutdowns and forced vaccinations to continue their homicidal march for total control. Our faith and our freedom is under fire. Any country that would spy on christian church attendance is just one step away from all outgun confiscation and totalitarian comments.

Speaker A
So sadly, that's what's on the ballot tonight. And it seems like that guy's going to be a member of Congress. So listen, we may not be able to do anything about what's going on in that. I think it's the third district in South Carolina.

But what we can do is prevent the guy whose ideology Mark Burns is following, which is Trump. We can prevent Trump from getting four more years in the Oval Office. I don't think we can stop Mark Burns, although if you vote in the third district of South Carolina, you can try in November. It's a very red district. So whoever wins the runoff today probably wins. A very unfortunate thing.

But let's at least prevent Trump from becoming the next president and we can hold down the power that a guy like Mark Burns would have. Also, Democrats taking control of the House would be a great way to restrict the power that this guy has. Really scary, I mean, truly, truly horrifying stuff.

Let's say you want to figure out if Trump did use a nazi slogan in a campaign video or if it's just a misunderstanding. Ground News is an app and website that gathers news stories from across the world and political spectrum. So you can decide for yourself. It's a great tool. I'm happy to be partnering with them for this video. Yes, Trump did in fact use a nazi slogan in a campaign video he posted and then he deleted it. On ground news, I can access almost 200 articles covering the story and see that only 17% of those are right leaning. No surprise there. Comparing coverage is interesting. Some sources on the left references language comparing him to Hitler, while on the right RT highlights his explanation of the video and Israel's are highlights that he deleted it. The ground news blind spots feature will highlight stories like this that are disproportionately covered by either political side, so you are guaranteed to see the full picture. Sign up through my link for 40% off their vantage subscription, which gives you access to all of their features. Go to Ground Dot news slash Pacman the link is in the podcast notes one of our sponsors today is better help I have long been an advocate of psychotherapy. Whether you have an ongoing issue, a particular temporary situation that's causing stress, I think most people can benefit from spending time with a therapist. Give better help a try. It's entirely online. It's 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.

There are so many benefits to doing therapy online. It'll work on your schedule wherever you are. No more waiting rooms and sitting in traffic or having to take 3 hours off of work to get down and back for a 45 or 50 minutes session. Get it off your chest with better help. Visit betterhelp.com Pacman show today to get 10% off your first month. That's better help.com slash Pacman show. The link is in the podcast notes have you seen these people search sites? It's a big data privacy problem in the United States because they publish detailed personal profiles on millions of Americans online for anyone to see, and it is crazy. They can show your address, your Internet activity, license plate number, even your political or religious beliefs. Government agencies like the FBI and NSA even buy this data to potentially use against you. Our sponsor, Incogni is the affordable service that will send automatic data removal requests to these data brokers, who are required by law to comply. Incogni even follows up with the data brokers to make sure your data is permanently gone, and Incogni keeps you updated every step of the way. I use it myself. It is remarkable what they can get done for you. I barely get any spam and robocalls anymore, and these data broker lists are where they're usually getting that information. That alone makes incogni worth it, and my audience gets 60% off. Go to incogni.com pacman and use the code Pacman. That's inc. Ogni.com pacman for 60% off. The link is in the podcast notes we at the David Pakman show do depend on your support.

If you're hearing this message right now, you're not getting the full David Pakman show experience. If you're already a member and believe you should be, make sure you log in on the website and actually click on member content. But if you're not getting the full member experience because you aren't yet a member, in that case, consider signing up at join Pacman.com and you can use the coupon code savedemocracy 24 to get yourself a nice little discount.

Doctor Ronnie Jackson, who gave Trump a dementia test and who Trump thought was actually named Ronnie Johnson last week went on Fox News and said that Joe Biden's team is spending this week trying out various combinations of drugs on Biden before the debate. This would be an irresponsible thing for anyone to say. This would be a particularly irresponsible thing for a member of Congress to say. And it is an excruciatingly and painfully obnoxious and irresponsible thing for a doctor member of Congress to say because there is no evidence of this. But this is the story. The entire totality of MAGA world has reoriented itself over the last 72 to 96 hours to change expectations for the debate. Expectations are no longer. Trump's going to do so well and Biden won't be able to speak. It's no, Biden may well come off like he's debating strongly, but it will be because of drugs carefully calibrated to cover up dementia and cognitive decline. Here's Ronnie Jackson. And just remember, he has no evidence for anything he's saying here.

Speaker E
This is probably what's going on over this week at Camp David. You know, he's going to be Camp David for a full week before the debate. Part of that is probably experimenting with, you know, just getting the doses just right because, you know, they have to treat his cognition. They have to give him something to help him think straighter.

Speaker A
They have to, they're going to treat his cognition.

And this guy's a doctor. That's the crazy thing. And think straighter.

Speaker E
Speaker one, something to wake him up, you know, to his alertness. And then, you know, he's been agitated.

We see that all the time. And that's a common, that's a common symptom or sign of this cognitive disorder.

Speaker A
That, and Trump's never agitated except all.

Speaker E
The time that he seems to be suffering from. And so they're probably going to give him something to take the edge off that as well. They didn't get it right. Just last time at the State of the Union, he came out, he was obviously much more alert, but he was a yelling, angry old man and he still didn't make a lot of sense. So I think they've got an uphill battle here, but I think that they're going to have to do something to try to wake him up and make him perform a little better during the debate.

Speaker F
And I don't.

Speaker A
Yeah, we also are looking into why Ronnie, Ronnie Johnson or Ronnie Jackson's face is that color, but we, we haven't yet figured it all out. This sounds like more of an admission than an accusation, especially when it comes from the guy Ronnie Jackson accused of running a pill mill from the White House and on Air Force one. And we seem to be getting more and more of a sense of how Ronnie Jackson worked with Trump. And everything he's saying about Biden seems to actually fit the description of Trump. Now, tomorrow we are going to have a mental health professional on to tell us how much can you really glean about anyone's cognitive state from a single debate?

Fair question. We will answer that tomorrow. Here's more from Congressman Ronnie Jackson, who announces he's writing a letter to the White House demanding Biden submit to a drug test.

Speaker E
And it's really embarrassing as a former White House physician to have to do something like this, but we don't have any choice based on what's going on. But I'm going to be demanding on behalf of many millions of concerned Americans right now that he submit to a drug test before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance enhancing drugs. Because we see he's on HGH recently in his State of the Union address, that there was a Joe Biden that came out that was not similar at all to what we see on a day to day basis for the last three and a half years. And there's just really no way to explain that other than he was on something, that they'd given him medications. I feel like this is probably what's going on over this week at Camp David. You know, he's going to be camping.

Speaker A
He feels like it. Okay? And then now he goes into the camp David rant that we already heard. They don't have any evidence for any of this stuff. They are desperate. They are anticipating this may not go well for Donald Trump. So this is what they are doing. And it doesn't stop with Ronnie Jackson. Let's talk about more irresponsible speculation coming from the republican party. One character from the republican party that we have not, I don't know that we have ever featured her, although maybe once or twice.

That. I want to introduce you to is republican congresswoman Marionette Miller Meeks. She went on Fox Business, which is the nexus for spreading reckless evidence free conspiracy theories with no pushback at all about Joe Biden being on drugs. She went on and said that we anticipate the royal. We. She anticipates that Joe Biden will be on drugs in this Thursday's debate. Take a listen.

Speaker G
So we anticipate that for this first debate, he will be on something. And the response of the press has been to cover it up. And so we've seen that with Kareem John Pierre saying, these are deep fakes. This is, you know, misinformation. The videos we have seen of President Biden's cognitive decline are not false. They are not, you know, manufactured. They are not deep, deep fakes. The president has significant cognitive decline, as we've all seen.

Speaker A
One of the characteristics of fascism and authoritarianism is that you show your allegiance to the cult, to the leader, to the dictator. You show your allegiance by uncritically repeating the same lies that they tell.

Remember day one of the Trump administration, a hellish day, a santanic day in american history, as Pastor Mark Burns would call it.

Donald Trump went out and said, we've got the biggest crowd of any inauguration on Twitter just moments after the inauguration. It wasn't true. It obviously wasn't true. And then his then press secretary, Sean Spicer, stood in front of the press corps at the White House and said, this was the largest audience ever to take in a presidential inauguration. You show your allegiance in these dictatorial, fascistic, authoritarian environments by telling the same lies. And also, Congresswoman Marionette Miller Meeks saying that Biden's refusal to take a drug test at the request of random Republicans in the House is suspicious. Understand that they created that suspicion by making a request that they aren't in any position to actually be making this. The media, including at CNN, is now pushing back on long makers demanding that President Biden take a drug test before and after the CNN presidential debate to see if Biden is taking any stimulants or drugs. But it looks like this Biden White House congresswoman has so bullied and threatened the media with cutting them off, the media is effectively saying, cover this up. Deny it. Announces, keep America's in the dark about Biden's true condition. You know, this sounds like Biden's version of don't ask, don't tell. We know everything he does is on a teleprompter or scripted. Where do you come down, doctor, on this?

Speaker G
Well, first and foremost, let me say, as an ophthalmologist, I deal mostly with elderly patients. Number two, my mother had Alzheimer's by.

Speaker A
The way, what she should also say is that as an ophthalmologist, I don't deal with anything even remotely related to what Joe Biden is alleged to be experiencing here. That might be a crucial thing.

Speaker G
And I took care of her for the majority of the last few years of her life. And then, number three, I've been to the White House several times for bill signings, and all of us have seen the degradation of President Biden's cognitive facilities.

Speaker A
This is all right, so listen, here's my question. We're not going to spend any more time on this today. My question to you is, is this what they are going to use to get Trump out of the debate in the 48 hours, roughly, that remain until the debate? Are they going to say Biden's refusal to take a drug test when he's so obviously juicing makes it so that Donald Trump simply cannot show up? It wouldn't be fair. Do you believe they will use that to get trump out?

Staying healthy is all about sustainable habits, something you'll actually stick to. Which is why I've been using ag one in the morning for years now. It's just so much simpler than messing with a bunch of different vitamin pills and products. And with just a single scoop of ag one, I get the vitamins, minerals, and probiotics I want, and I'm keeping my nutritional basis covered for the day. It's just easy. It's easy. I feel better. My energy lasts longer. In a recent research study, 97% of participants reported feeling more energy after 30 days of drinking ag one. In a recent study, ag one was shown to even double the healthy bacteria in the gut. It's easy and satisfying to start your journey with ag one. Try ag one and get a free one year supply of vitamin d. Three k two, plus five free ag one travel packs with your first subscription. Order at drinkag one.com pacman. That's drink ag, the number one.com pacman. The link is in the podcast notes.

It's getting warmer out there, so make sure you're prepared. Unfortunately for some of the gentlemen, the weather warming up does have a downside, and it's the sticking and the readjusting and the chafing when the humidity kicks in. But our sponsor, sheath underwear will keep you comfortable. Sheath is the underwear, ergonomically designed with separate compartments in the front, keeping everything comfortable, dry and fresh all day long. No more moisture chafing. Everything can breathe. You won't even realize how much you needed this until the first time you try it she thunderwear is especially awesome to sleep in. It's a whole new level of comfort at night you didn't even know was possible. Many colors and varieties to choose from. You'll find something you like. They even have a line of super quality women's underwear designed with comfort in mind. Sheath has more than 10,005 star reviews, fast shipping, and world class customer service. Go to sheath underwear.com Pacman and get 20% off with the code Pacman. That's sheath underwear.com pacman. Use code Pacman to save 20%. The info is in the podcast. Notes well, republican voters have made now convicted felon Donald Trump their nominee for president this year. And as a result, we have a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, now a convicted felon. The election is mere months away, and now is as good a time, really, as any to talk about who Donald Trump might select as his vice presidential pick.

And of course, we all know that it's going to be Sarah Palin. Just kidding. No, it's, it's not going to be Palin. But the truth is, the real short list isn't that much better than Sarah Palin. And it is a list that continues to evolve.

Trump says he has decided, although he hasn't yet told, that person. And the person that Trump has in mind today is almost certainly different than whoever Donald Trump was thinking of six months ago, mostly because Donald Trump's opinions are often guided by what the last person he spoke to said to him. So I'm going to go through and first give you some background on what Trump is likely looking for, and then I'll go through a list of names that others have speculated are on the short list. I'll tell you who I don't think will make the cut, and then we will look at what really does appear to be the short list at this point. Now, I don't have any inside information that you don't, but we've compiled everything that we do know. Maybe Trump's vice president will be someone completely unexpected that doesn't even get mentioned here. But what I can guarantee is that whoever Trump chooses will either be a dangerous MAGA lunatic or someone who will not get in the way of Trump continuing to be a dangerous MAGA lunatic. That's called loyalty, according to Trump.

And we're going to talk about that. But let's start more generally with what is Donald Trump looking for in a vice president? Donald Trump junior says that his father is looking for a fighter, someone willing to show up at Trump's trial trials defend him. Doug Bergam, Vivek Ramaswamy, Rick Scott, JD Vance actually did show up at one of Donald Trump's trials, the first criminal trial. Trump wants someone who not only says that they are loyal, but also someone who's willing to really publicly show the extent of their loyalty. And by loyalty, of course, we mean unfettered, unrestricted, unending, brown nosing and sycophants. See, now, Trump kind of learned from his mistake of selecting Mike Pence as his running mate in 2016.

He's not going to pick the kind of person who will certify the election results when Trump loses to Joe Biden. If that happens in 2024 the way it did in 2020, very much the opposite. Trump wants someone who's going to be a doormat, who will never stand in Trump's way, who will never say, you know, the constitution doesn't really allow for me to do the thing you want me to do.

No matter how much Trump wants authoritarian, anti democratic actions or statements from his vice president, he wants someone who is not going to say, maybe this isn't something that we should be doing. And loyalty, as Trump defines it, is one of the most important things. Maybe the most important thing. And some have speculated, oh, Trump wants a woman. He wants a person of color. Maybe Trump is, I'm sure, willing to consider how that would make him look from an optic standpoint. At one point, he said he will be choosing a woman. I don't think that that's actually going to be the case. But loyalty, as defined by MAGA and Trump is the number one thing Trump is looking for. Additionally, he would like someone, you would think, who helps him win votes that he otherwise wouldn't get on his own. And we're going to get to that a little bit later. But this now gets us to who it almost certainly is not going to be. A bunch of names have been floated over the last 6912 months that I just don't think have a real shot at being Donald Trump's running mates. For example, Tool C Gabbard, former democratic congresswoman turned MAGA acolyte. I don't think she has a shot. She is too much of a transparent grifter. If I were Trump, I would have real concerns that if I pick Tool C, she won't really be loyal to me in the way that Trump wants the VP to be loyal. Trump likely wants someone more ideological, a true believer. Tulsi is not really motivated by Maga. She's motivated by where is her bread going to be buttered.

Self interest. And Trump is also motivated by self interest. So that's a conflict. Trump needs someone motivated by wanting to be close to power. Power being Trump, that's not exclusively Tool C. Tool C really feels like she just kind of picked what can I do? What sort of set of positions and alliances and loyalties can I publicly align myself with such that I will be able to put a new lease on my failed presidential run back from 2020? So I don't think it's going to be Tulsi. Similarly, I don't think it's going to be Marjorie Taylor Green. In some ways, Marjorie Taylor Greene is an obvious choice to be Donald Trump's vp because she is loyal. She is perhaps, I don't know, one of the biggest Trump sycophants ever elected to office.

But Trump seems to know that Marjorie, Marjorie Taylor Greene is too polar, polarizing, has a ton of baggage, might be completely out of her mind. Trump wants someone ideologically committed like Green, but a little more low key. Trump also doesn't want the attention going to his vp. As I said, Trump wants a doormat both in terms of standing by Trump, but also in terms of not taking attention away from Trump. Trump really wants the attention himself.

And attention does seem to follow. Marjorie Taylor Green there was a period of time where Tucker Carlson was being discussed as a possible Trump VP. And, and some people may have forgotten that in the aftermath of January 6, Tucker privately trashed Donald Trump in that series of leaked text messages where Tucker said that he, quote, hates him passionately. He couldn't more look forward to when he never has to talk about Trump again. And of course, since then, Tucker has started to play nice with Trump. He's done softball interviews. They hang out, I think, at that saudi arabian golf tournament and maybe even at UFC they've gone to together. Loyalty is the most important thing for Trump, especially in the context of January 6. So more than likely, Tucker is disqualified because at least for a little while there, he seemed to tell his real opinion about Trump in those text messages, which is he despises him. What about someone like Katie Britt? Now, if you're kind of like Katie, who? Katie Britt delivered that bizarre State of the Union rebuttal with the totally affected voice, the fundy baby voice that some people said is the way that people in cults speak. Anyway, a bunch of people, after Alabama Republican senator Katie Britt delivered that strange rebuttal, said, oh, she's on Trump's short list. There's so much of her about her that Donald Trump would like. I actually think Trump would find it very difficult to stomach Katie Britt. And to be honest, I don't blame him because she's vile and I don't think she ever was a serious contender.

Now, let's talk about Carrie Lake. Bottom line, Carrie Lake is a loser, okay? No matter how much she may cope, she lost to Katie Hobbs. Lake arguably would have had a shot at being picked as Trump's vp if she had won in 2022 and become a winner. But as it stands, she seems like a very far fetched choice. By the way, she's also running her own campaign right now for Senate, so she'd have to drop out of that to be Trump's running mate. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't seem likely. And she is a loser. And as Trump defines losers, he doesn't like them. What about Nikki Haley? Nikki Haley could be a great choice from a strategic perspective. The bulk of the non Trump primary vote went to Nikki Haley. So if you're looking for additional voters, it would seem like a natural choice to consider Nikki Haley. But there's just way too much bad blood there. She definitely doesn't meet Trump's loyalty litmus test. I doubt that she has suffered. Not suffered, I doubt that she has been subjected to. In a sense, it would be suffering. I don't think she's been subjected to any more than the most sort of superficial consideration. And even if she were offered vp, I don't know for sure that she would say yes, she probably would. Most people would if offered the chance to be VP. But the fact that it's not completely clear that he would definitely raises some questions. This now brings us to Christy Noem.

Do I really need to explain this one? Now, in fairness to Christy Nome, she was once widely reported to be at the top of Trump's shortlist. But even the Republican Party isn't bloodthirsty enough to put a literal dog killer. Was it a puppy? I think it was 14 months old. Technically, I don't think that's a puppy. Some people call her a puppy killer, certainly a dog killer. I don't think that even Republicans would want her on their ticket or want to vote for her. And of course, her claim to have met with Kim Jong un, which is an obvious lie. It was in her book, then she removed it. She won't talk about why that would also attract unwanted scrutiny if Trump picked her. Trump seems to know, and he has said in interviews she was doing really well until all of a sudden this happened. Maybe she's under consideration for a cabinet position, but if she's actually selected as VP, it would be a major political blunder. Sort of like when the late senator John McCain selected Sarah Palin. Major mistake. So let's now get to a different sort of selection. What about Robert F. Kennedy Junior? There's been lots of speculation that Trump will pick RFK because from a strategy perspective, RFK seems to take more from Trump than he does from Biden. And if Trump picked RFK, the voters that RFK takes from Trump, he gets back. And maybe it's an indirect way for Trump to get some Biden voters who prefer RFK as well. But I don't think Robert F. Kennedy junior really has any interest in being Trump's vp.

He has claimed publicly that emissaries from Trump's campaign asked him to be vp or said, would you want to be vp? Trump staff have denied it, which I think they deny. Even if it were true, which it very much might be, RFK likely would have dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump by now if his plan was to become Trump's VP. This now beings brings us to Vivek Ramiswami. I do believe Vivek will have a role in the Trump administration because he has become an excellent suck up, just an unflinching brown noser to Trump. But Vivek is not going to be Trump's VP. The more people saw of Vivek, the less they liked him. According to public opinion polls, Vivek is loyal, or at least he's become loyal. He is well spoken, but he hasn't really been tested when it comes to his loyalty. He's trying a little too hard. He's veered into extremism. He said January 6 was an inside job. And even if Trump kind of likes that idea, it could become a liability for Trump. Sort of the way that Marjorie Taylor Greene would be to pick Vivek Ramaswami. So I don't think we've seen the last of Vivek, but I don't think he's going to be Trump's VP. So those are the main people that have been mentioned that I don't think will be VP. A lot of other names have been thrown around. Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham, Greg Abbott, Elise Stefanik, Marsha Blackburn, Glenn Youngkin, Byron Donald's, Nancy Mace, Rick Scott. I don't think any of these people have the it factor, so let me know if you disagree on the no list.

Now let's discuss who might actually be on Trump's shortlist. Now, let me briefly mentioned, it seems as though Byron Donald's was being vetted, but then more recently, it doesn't seem like he's really on the short list. So I'm aware of the Byron Donald's thing, but I'm not including him here. Who do I think is really on Trump's short list? Let's start with Doug Bergam. Doug Bergam inspires nothing and is clearly desperate to be Trump's vp. He arguably only ran for president to audition to be Donald Trump's vice president. Doug Bergam is obscenely wealthy.

Some estimates say he's a billionaire or hundreds of millions of dollars. That impresses Trump.

Like Trump, Bergam is considered a political outsider. He has a background in tech. He sold a software company to Microsoft about 20 years ago. He's the founder of a real estate development firm. So he has, has this kind of similar personal and professional background to Trump. Bergam and Trump have apparently become friends in recent months to the extent that Trump has friends. And since dropping out of the primary, Bergam has played his cards really well. He's been on message as a surrogate for Trump. He said Biden's a dictator, which is an insane thing to say, but something that Trump loves to hear. And importantly, Bergam's personality couldn't be more anodyne, banal and boring. And so Trump probably would view Bergam as reliable, a rich guy like me, low drama, and he won't get any attention. Bergam's not as cartoonishly as sycophant in the way that Vivek Ramaswami is, but he's loyal. And Trump has remarked, I didn't know this. He was a supporter of my two campaigns. He's a very rich man. So Bergam's loyal, he's rich, and he's extremely boring, which would appeal to Donald Trump.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders I think Sarah Huckabee Sanders wins the award for most underrated Trump VP pick. She's the total package for MAGA world, except for one thing. I know you know what it is? I'm going to talk about it in a moment.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is unquestionably devoted to Maga. She served in Trump's administration for a few years as his longest serving White House press secretary. Trump clearly believes she represents him well, otherwise he wouldn't have kept her around for that long. And unlike Carrie Lake, Sarah is a winner. She became governor of Arkansas while running on a MAGA agenda and with a Trump endorsement. She's absolutely loyal. She's never said a critical word about Trump. She seems to be a true believer in MAGA. Now, at the same time, she's more low key compared to Marjorie Taylor Greene. She tends to stay out of the limelight. She's a woman, which Trump has said he would be interested in. Now, I know what you might say. She doesn't exactly have the look for Trump. The physical appearance. Trump has certain, shall we call them, expectations about how women should look. But she's lost a bunch of weight in recent years, which I think is important to Trump. And on top of being a devoted MAGA sycophant, she comes from a republican political dynasty of her own. Her father, Mike Huckabee, is also a deranged Trump cultist who was governor of Arkansas and has run for president a couple of times. So I think Trump respects dynasty, and it would make Sarah Huckabee Sanders a little more relatable to him and a little more trustworthy. This gets us to Marco Rubio. Now, I know you must be thinking, Trump will never pick little Marco. He fails Trump's loyalty test. Not necessarily. It is true that Marco was very critical of Trump during the 2016 primary.

But during Trump's presidency, he supported just about everything that Trump did. During the 2016 primary, Rubio insulted Trump's physical appearance and said that if he hadn't inherited his father's millions, he'd be on the street corner selling watches. He's called Trump a con artist. He said he's unprecedented, unqualified to be president. Rubio condemned Trump after the access Hollywood scandal and said no one should talk to women this way. But then later, he said he regretted the insults. And since then, he's been a reliable, loyal Trump surrogate. Endorsed Trump in 2016 and was active in supporting Trump. He had the unofficial title as virtual secretary of state for Latin America, given his hispanic roots. So Trump may have some doubts about Rubio, but he's arguably the biggest get. He's a fluent spanish speaker. He could be a valuable asset. Son of immigrants could legitimize by not Biden Trump's border policy.

However, it's been brought up that you, quote, can't have a president and VP from the same state. But that's actually not true.

We talked about this on the bonus show. If Rubio and Trump both reside in Florida as of November, there's this obscure rule that would make them split up Florida's electoral votes between them. But you can easily remedy that by Trump changing his residency back to New York. This gets us to JD Vance, Ohio Senator JD Vance is being vetted. He's reportedly on the short list. Total Trump suck up. But it wasn't always this way. In 2016, Vance was an outspoken critic of Trump. In 2016, Vance wrote in USA Today, Trump's actual policy proposals, such as they are, range from immoral to absurd. He's called Trump noxious, reprehensible, even once compared him to Hitler. Nonetheless, much like Tool C, Vance has become a total maga grifter. He apologized to Trump for criticizing him. He reiterated many of Trump's false claims about the election being stolen. Trump ultimately endorsed Vance, where he referred to him as JP in his 2022 Senate race. And so, to be honest with you, even though he's reportedly on the short list, I don't know how much of a chance he has. But multiple sources have reported he's being considered. If not vp, he would likely have a role in Trump's administration. And that brings us to Tim Scott, South Carolina senator. Former presidential candidate Tim Scott is also reportedly on Trump's short list. Now, as with Rubio and Vance, I have doubts about whether he actually meets Trump's loyalty litmus test. Tim Scott said he believes Mike Pence did the right thing on January 6.

That's not something that Trump likes. Tim Scott has criticized Trump's response to the Charlotte Charlotteville unite the right rally, saying Trump lacked moral authority. Scott criticized Trump's response to Black Lives Matter protests and urged Trump to stop retweeting content in support of white power. But Tim Scott has become a major Trump suck up. Scott announced he's launching a $14 million voter outreach campaign to minority voters to try to help Trump. So it's possible that Trump likes all of this. It's possible Trump will see value in selecting a black running mate. But as we know with republican voters, that can be a double edged sword. So that's the real short list as I see it. Let me know. Am I missing anybody? Who do you think it will be? Email me infoavidpackman.com.

we all know someone who's been the victim of identity theft or accidentally downloading a virus. And it costs time, money, maybe your personal files. And what I've used for years to keep my devices safe from malware is malwarebytes. I've been using this for years and years before they ever became a sponsor. And it's because malwarebytes is just the standard. It gets great scores from the independent cybersecurity labs. It's almost always the top choice from consumer tech publications. CNET, for example, just declared malwarebytes the best malware removal service of 2024. Malwarebytes expertise and dedication to cybersecurity excellence just sets them apart from the other antivirus companies. They catch all kinds of threats that antiviruses often don't. You get comprehensive real time protection against a huge variety of online threats, and it will detect and remove existing malware already on your devices as well. And now you can get the identity Theft Protection bundle to protect your entire family's personal information with live monitoring alerts, recovery assistance and up to a million dollars in identity theft insurance. Malwarebytes has a special deal only for the David Pakman show. You can get any malwarebytes subscription for 50% off. That's half off@malwarebytes.com. slash Pacman. That's malwarebyte.com Pacman to get half off your subscription. The link is in the podcast notes.

New and regularly failing Trump spokeswoman Caroline Levitt was kicked off of CNN yesterday after she would not stop attacking the colleagues of interviewer Casey Hunt, including Jake Tapper. She just kicked her off. This is very interesting to see. The attacks from Caroline Levitt were completely uncalled for. She got kicked off and then went on an I'm a victim tour all across right wing media. Let's take a look at the moment she got kicked off. Then I'll give you a taste of her reaction.

Caroline Levitt
It's to, it takes up on five minutes to Google Jake Tapper, Donald Trump to see that Jake Tapper has, ma'am.

Speaker A
We'Re going to stop this interview.

Caroline Levitt
If you're going to keep track of.

Speaker A
Ma'Am, I'm going to stop this interview. If you continue to attack my colleagues. I would like to talk about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who you work for.

Caroline Levitt
Yes.

Speaker A
If you are here to speak on his behalf, and I will do have this conversation.

Caroline Levitt
I am stating facts that your colleagues have stated in the past. Now ask, I'm sorry, guys.

Speaker A
We're going to come back out to the panel. Caroline, thank you very much for your time. You are welcome to come back at any point. She is welcome to come back and speak about Donald Trump. And Donald Trump will have equal time to Joe Biden when they both join us now at next early later this week in Atlanta. All right, so listen, she did the right thing. They're always going to say that they are the victims. They're always going to say they're being treated unfairly. But Casey Hunt did, did the right thing there.

Caroline Levitt was just trying to essentially sandbag her instead of addressing the questions that she was obviously told would be the general subject matter of the interview. She started to go after CNN people. Now the american people will watch the debate on Thursday night and can decide whether the debate is carried out fairly or not. I assume certainly when it comes to speaking time, it is going to be fair and then we can assess whether the questions are in any way managed to be to the advantage of one candidate or another. But this is part of the media tour that MAGA is doing to reset expectations. Trump's not going to appear to do that well because Biden will be on drugs. Trump's not going to appear to do that well because Jake Tapper doesn't like him or Dana Bash doesn't like him. They're all resetting expectations. And within a couple hours of getting kicked off of CNN, Caroline Levitt appeared on Newsmax and insisted in sort of the same way to reset expectations. Very low for Trump that Biden is going to be on drugs, as he.

Caroline Levitt
Was clearly much more alert and able to speak better than he is when he does teleprompt speeches. His team is hiding him away at Camp David for the week, which is deeply concerning that the leader of the free world cannot debate prep and also hold public events and continue to run the country. At the White House, you should be able to do multiple things as the state at the same time as president. But I think we should expect the same type of performance from Joe Biden on Thursday night that we saw at the State of the union. And if his team wants to prove that he's being artificially stimulated for big nights like these, then they should agree to a drug test. President Trump has challenged Joe Biden to do that. And why won't he accept it? It's a curious question to ask.

Speaker A
So insisting on this, and I still would love to hear from Caroline or from Ronnie Johnson or Ronnie Jackson or whatever he's calling himself at this point.

What exactly would be a valid debate steroid that would make someone with cognitive decline perform well? Caroline Levitt also resetting expectations by saying it will essentially be a three on one debate that Trump will be debating not only Joe Biden, but also the CNN moderators.

Caroline Levitt
The truth is very triggering to CNN, and they like to pretend that they're still the most trusted name in news. They like to pretend that Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are real journalists, unbiased people, and that's just not the case. And anyone with eyes and ears can see that.

Speaker A
What does this tell you?

Speaker E
I mean, can, can Trump even get.

Speaker A
A fair debate if you're simply trying to state a fact and they go to commercial?

Caroline Levitt
Well, ironically, whether they wanted to or not, they proved the point. And I was trying to make in that segment. That is, CNN is a hostile environment. And President Trump is knowingly going into this hostile environment on Thursday night because he believes so deeply in his message and he is so committed to bringing that message to the american public.

Speaker A
That speaker one. All right, so it's all going to be unfair to Trump. And then lastly, Steve Bannon also invited on Caroline Levitt after she was kicked off of CNN. And he now has come up with a new reason for Donald Trump to bail on the debate, which is CNN was mean to Caroline. If CNN doesn't apologize to Caroline, then Trump shouldn't debate. I've never seen such disrespect. They have never in the history of television ever, ever taken a national press secretary and treated her with such lack of respect. Cassie hunt owes you an apology.

Speaker D
CNN OJ apology today.

Speaker A
And we don't get that apology to Caroline Levitt and to the Trump campaign.

Speaker D
And to MAGA today.

Speaker A
President Trump should cancel this. Yep. So we now have three different justifications that they've laid out for Trump to cancel. One, Biden's going to be on drugs to the debate. Moderators are going to moderate the debate unfairly. Three, CNN hasn't apologized to Caroline Levitt. How about showing up and debating? Hmm? What about that? So MAGA for months has been saying it's Joe Biden who won't show up. Seems abundantly clear that Biden's showing up.

The question is, is Trump going to show up? And then you won't believe how Trump himself is now resetting expectations for the debate after spending years saying that Joe Biden can't think, can't speak, can't walk, doesn't know what day it is, needs to be led on and off stages.

Donald Trump is now saying, you know, I expect Biden to be a very good debater on Thursday night. You have to see this on the tech, bro, all in podcast, which we're going to look at in more detail later this week. Trump was asked, what do you expect at the debate? Now, you will notice Trump was extraordinarily sweaty, orange, and his right eye was almost completely swollen shut.

That's not the subject matter here, but I'm just acknowledging I'm aware of that.

Trump all of a sudden, after spending years saying Biden can barely think says I expect Biden to debate well yet again, resetting expectations because the Biden's going to soil himself and be unable to speak. Story has backfired on them so many times. Listen to this.

Speaker E
You have a prediction for the debate next week?

Speaker A
What's going to happen?

Speaker F
Well, all I can say is this. I watched him with Paul Ryan and he destroyed Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan with the water. He was chugging water at a lake left and right. I didn't think a human being would be able to drink so much water at one time. And he beat Paul Ryan. So I'm not underestimating him. I'm not underestimating him. It is what it is.

We'll see what happens. But you take a look at the last one.

I happen to think he's incompetent for a lot of reasons. I think he's incompetent because he has gotten the worst policies, both foreign policy, internal policy. I mean, who would not want to have a wall? Who wants to have millions of people pouring in? Who wants to have high taxes? You know, taxes are going to raise by four times if this guy has his plan.

Speaker A
Is he in cognitive decline?

Speaker E
Do you believe he's in cognitive decline, mister president?

Speaker F
I shouldn't be the one to say that, but I don't think he's doing.

Speaker A
Trump all of a sudden. Careful about what he says on that, huh?

Speaker F
Well, but I didn't think he was, well, 25 years ago. I thought he was not a smart person. And that was told to me by a certain member of the Kennedy family who was actually very friendly with me through a Palm beach relationship. And I was told that very strongly. But, so I was never a fan of his, but I will say he beat, he beat Paul Ryan.

Speaker A
So notice how Trump is sort of backing off of the cognitive decline story. He's been telling it for two years. For two years. It's, Biden can't do anything. He can't speak. He's totally, totally demented. Now all of a sudden he says, you know, I really shouldn't be the one talking about cognitive decline. Shouldn't be me saying it. Oh, really? Well, what changed? And also, I expect him to do well in the debate singing a very different tune now that there is so much riding on this.

Speaker F
It was still years ago, but he beat Paul Ryan pretty badly. And I assume he's going to be somebody that will be a worthy debater. Yeah, I would say, I think I don't want to underestimate him.

All right.

Speaker A
I think that's smart. Well, your team is telling us that they need you to go to a dinner, mister president. Obviously, we could keep going for hours and hours. All right, so there. Trump had to go to dinner. So listen, when they have come up with three to five different excuses over the last week for why a Trump shouldn't go to the debate, when even Trump changes his tune on the expected performance of Joe Biden, you know they are worried and you know, they are resetting expectations far, far lower for Trump and far, far higher for Biden. Are they doing it because they believe it or are they doing it because they think that when you set the bar too low for Biden, then he does okay. And it looks bad.

We don't know the reason, but they are certainly doing it. My I will ask the question again.

Do you believe Trump shows up to the debate? Info at david pakman.com. all right, we have a voicemail number. That number is 2192. David P. Take a listen to this. Here's a caller who thinks that I have finally solved a major personal problem. Take a listen to this.

Speaker F
Hey, David, it's Monday the 24 June.

I just noticed that you got a haircut on the show tonight. I mean, before the show, obviously. And I just want to tell you, you know, finally, it looks really good. You finally solved your, your problem, whatever it was. But hey, congrats, kudos.

Speaker A
I love the idea that I solved my problem, whatever it was. So I did not get a haircut. And I'll give you a little peek behind the curtain as to what's going on. I am waking up increasingly earlier and earlier and earlier to try to get up before my daughter, quite frankly, and to have time to do things, to have time to read, to have a calm breakfast, et cetera. And one of the things that is more frequently happening because I'm getting up earlier and earlier, is I'm going to the gym in the morning. And obviously I'm not going to disrespect the audience by going to the gym and then coming straight into the studio sweaty and orange and swollen and disheveled, as the failed former president sometimes does. I'm not going to disrespect the audience by coming up into the studio with that appearance. So what happens is when I have time to go, my hair problem is not a haircut problem. I didn't get a haircut. The problem is bedhead and things that happen geometrically with my hair that are very much unpleasant. So all that's happening is when I successfully get up early and I successfully go to the gym. I shower, and then I'm doing the show without sleeping on my hair. And then that's why things look a little more professional rather than, like, gumby or whatever else. So it's not that I solved the problem with a haircut. It's just my schedule is crazy these days, and the days are starting much earlier, which lets me go to the gym in the morning and then shower before the show. All right, so let's.

Let's. Let's stick to the facts, please.

Julian Assange has been released after 1901, I believe, days in custody. He will plead guilty to violating the espionage act. We will dive deeper into what's happening with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange on today's bonus show. Oh, the bonus show, where you want to make money.

Speaker F
Everybody else that makes money to fund themselves as bad.

Speaker A
Secondly, the Supreme Court will take up state bans on gender affirming care for minors. What do we expect there? And thirdly, this is so funny because I've had the AC problem in Europe, okay. US Olympic and other teams are bringing their own air conditioning units to Paris. Now, there's two stories here. There's a story about AC culture in Europe, and there's a story about environmental protection. But I have some genuinely interesting stories about my air conditioning experiences in Paris specifically and in Europe in general. So all of those stories and more on today's bonus show. I will see you then.

Sign up at join pacman.com dot. Thank your lucky stars every day you're not Dave Pakman. Thank your lucky stars every day. You're not Dave Pakman. And if you aren't getting the bonus show, I will see you tomorrow. By the way, this is wild. Yesterday, Monday, the. The biggest day we've had on YouTube since November of 2020.

No joke, folks. Not a joke. Do I have my Biden? Not a joke. I'm not trying to be dramatic. No, that's not it. Hold on. Is this. David Pakman does not have a soul. Damn it. That's not a soul. Okay. Anyway, 2.7 million views on YouTube yesterday.

We haven't done those numbers in almost four years.

Wild stuff. Thank you to everybody. I'll see you on the bonus show and back here tomorrow.

6/25/24: Biden "on something" goes NUCLEAR, RFK's VP reappears to implode

Primary Topic

Episode Summary

Main Takeaways

Episode Chapters

1: Campaign Viability

2: Medication Claims

3: Health Policy Politics

Actionable Advice

About This Episode

People

Content Warnings:

Transcript