Breaking News from Pod Save America - MAGA Can't Stop Freaking Out Over Jon Ossoff

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

Trump is tearing up the White House lawn while Jon Ossoff’s comments about his “Natalie” scandal have MAGA in full meltdown mode. And somehow, Jesse Watters is the only one making any sense. Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor break down the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Okay, Tommy, the Iran war is still raging. Gas prices are at record high as the president's approval is at record lows. So naturally, he called an impromptu press availability to provide the country with an update on how his renovation projects are going. Oh, good. Yeah, I've been wondering. They've been trying to build a heliport, meaning a pad, for more than 50 years. And you can see the kind of granite that says this is.

Granted has a million-year life. It's a very strong stone. You know, grass has a life like humans have a life. This has all been redone. It's all been topsoiled. In other words, we put topsoil, brand new earth on top. It's a very, you know, very, a lot of good ingredients in that earth for grass. If you're grass, you're very happy.

If you're happy. But this grass is the highest quality. It was given free of charge by Scott's Miracle Grow, Scots. And Scots is a great company. They actually contributed to my campaign. I must be honest, you'll figure that one out. But for the last number of years, no tents have been used. Because tents are very dangerous.

Tens are made out of plastic or canvas, and they don't stop even the smallest of ammunition or bullets. About what? Maybe at some point, but right now, I think the situation is so good. Situation around is so good. Everything's going great. When I was in high school, my mom, whenever I go to concerts, my mom would say, just don't smoke any bad grass.

Well, I was like, are you worried? I'm worried, I won't get high? What are we talking about here? Only the best grass. A swag for this kid. If your grass, you're happy. No one else in the country is happy. Grass is happy. First of all, that's not even a cool construction project.

It's just like a circle. Just putting a helipad in. Just a granite circle, apparently. Also, can you imagine how loud it must be in every single meeting? Every meeting. There's like multiple construction sites on the White House grounds. Or if you're in any of those places around the White House. I bet if you're at the hotel next door.

Oh, God, yeah. All of that. Well, like, you're sitting in the Oval Office. You're trying to decide if we're going to bomb around again. And, like, you just hear hammering all day long. Trump likes that. So the ad that he just did for Scott's Miracle Grow there, shares of Scott's Miracle Grow rose 6% after that on those comments.

Somebody of the White House bought some options yesterday. I decided to research Scott's Miracle Grow just for fun. See if they're a good company. Nice. In 2012, Scott's Miracle Grove pleaded guilty to illegally applying insecticides that were toxic to birds to its wild bird food products. Whoa. They had to pay over $12 million in fines and penalties. So in other words, they had this like bird seed.

They put insecticide on it to prevent infestations while it was being stored, knowing that it would then be toxic to the birds it would be fed to. Does RFK Jr. know this is happening? Probably not. There was a label on the insecticide that said store aside too is extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife. And they were like, eh, fuck it. Speaking of Miracle Grow, if you want to help us miraculously grow our YouTube and have our shares rise like Miracle Grows did, please subscribe. It's free. Just hit the button right there.

Subscribe to Pod Save America. And it'll surface more great Pottsave America content in the algorithm as we're trying to service a counterweight to all that right-wing media slop. I got to say, you know, 70-something days out from the mid-term. This guy is locked in. And no negotiations on Iran anymore because things are so good. Well, so what's weird about that is Jared Kushner did an interview on Fox News on Monday. And he said, quote, we are having very positive and active conversations. Then he said the diplomacy is, quote, probably more robust than it's ever been.

Robust is one of those of white house words. I love robust. It's just the worst. And then on Tuesday, Trump posted, quote, there are no talks or conversations with Iran. So I didn't like was he brushing back Jared was Jared lying it's hard to say was Jared just like spouting the talking points you say on diplomacy like yes we're having robust conversations yeah we're having yeah I don't know who even knows and then I saw today so Gulf countries are currently exporting 9.2 million barrels of oil per day in July they were exporting 12 million barrels of oil a day before the war they were exporting 18 million barrels of crude oil per day. So things are great. Things are great. We're just ripping.

Wow. So in other news, this is day four of the fallout from the most vile, despicable, misogynistic words ever spoken from the mouth of an elected official. I'm talking, of course, about John Ossoff's baseless allegation that the president likes to, quote, travel with Natalie. That's it. That's the whole, those are the three words that we're talking about here. Here's a representative sample of the MAGA crashout from White House Press Secretary hopeful Scott Jennings. He's willing to do it in a scripted rally, but he's not willing to defend it after the fact. It's despicable.

Ashley, I mean, just all this sort of fake outrage just really infuriated. It's not fake, I can assure you. It is. It is not fake. You don't put words in my mouth. She let you speak. And she said, I have he never suggested she. I am really.

Hold on a second. Hold on. Ashley, please speak. He's not, please listen to what she has to say. We all respected when you had the platform. I thought we were going to get your hand out of my fucking face again. Like, these shows are, the format is so rote. It's like Dickhead says Dickhead thing.

Someone attacks him for it. Host scolds them for being civil on set. Dickhead talks over everyone else to make sure that he's not, he's not forced to actually respond in a way that's not just his angry talking point. Listen, I can't grow. a goate and that's on me. That's a cross. I have to bear.

But I wouldn't, if it looked like that, I'd shave it anyway. That's, I don't know if I can look there. I don't, I mean, he's definitely trying out for the job with this. Yeah. For the White House Press Secretary job. Although. He has been floated. I got to say, you need to be a bit more unflappable than Scott Jennings.

Scott Jennings is too emotional. He flaps. He's too emotional to be White House Press Secretary. Carolyn Levitt, you can say a lot about her, liar, all kinds of stuff. But, like, she doesn't, she's, she's kind of unflappable. Oh, no. Her countenance was, I just took a beta blocker and a Xanax, right? Nothing's getting through here.

Like Scott is a pussy. Yeah, he's the whiny little bitch. The idea, yeah, the civility police are out and force on this. It is so stupid. Listen, obviously, John Ossif did something pretty savvy here, which is he kicked up a conversation about Donald Trump's weird relationship with this 35-year-old woman who his own staff referred to as the human printer. And she is so important to Donald Trump that she went on the secret plane while much like Hamas, he used the rest of his staff as human shields on the decoy.

So the New York Times posted some of Natalie's letters to Trump. Can I do a dramatic reading for you? Please. Please. I also am sorry if I was an embarrassment walking the course in Scotland. Apparently there's video of her chasing behind his golf course. Yes, she wasn't fast enough. I want things to always be right between us.

I also know I've been distracted all week for getting to eat throughout the days and even for getting to sleep and only catching a couple hours at a time. The letter concluded with all my heart, Natalie. Who among us has not written the line to our boss? I always want things to always be right between us. My dearest Robert Gibbs, I'm so sorry that I forgot to eat and forgot to sleep. Like, how that is a very unhealthy relationship. if you're apologizing for forgetting to sleep and eat, because your boss presumably is working due to art.

With all my heart, Natalie, here's the thing. The Secret Service raised alarms about the letters that she was leaving Donald Trump. So, yeah, John Assoff saying he wants to travel with Natalie and build his ballroom. Again, that is all John Ossoff said. And then everyone else jumped right to the implication that, like, you know, they're fucking or whatever. or it's up and it's like I think it's kind of I mean I think John Ossoff went sort of

went sort of easy on the whole thing because the idea that she's sending him these letters about how she always wants things to be right between them and she's she cares she she likes cares about him more than anything and yeah Trump I think Trump's line was like

she's the only one who loves me as much as my family everyone else will cash out and be gone and she will be there again this is not a healthy boss staffer relationship. This is like a 35-year-old woman with no relevant experience in government who just literally chases after his golf cart prints out positive news about him. Apparently surfaced the video of the Obama's as apes. Yes. And helped him share that one. So nothing about this is normal. And it's like perfectly, it's perfectly appropriate to raise questions about

this. Yeah. Scott Jennings later in that clip was like, how would John Ozell like it if, you know, someone started saying that one of his young staffers, one of his young staffers, one of his young female staffers, blah, blah, blah, I'm sorry, implying all this stuff. I'm like, well, if one of John Ossoff's young female staffers was caught writing letters to him that say, you are all that matters to me, and I always want everything to be right between us, and it alarmed his security, yeah, I think it would be very fair for Republicans to say something about that. And again, remember, like, we don't need to go through the hit list of all the times Donald Trump has been a horrible, cynical person. But one that came to mind to me today was remember when Nancy,

Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked and bashed on the head with a hammer. Trump was out there suggesting and spreading the conspiracy that this was staged or that it was his lover, right? I mean, like, he's the worst person in the world. Fuck all these. There's clearly this coordinated effort. Like, so the White House apparently has these discord communities or other like group chats where they send their little kind of outside forces and minions talking points to push back

on whatever, defends, you know, Trump against some attack. They lit up that group chat around this one, which suggests to me that this is something that really bothered Trump personally. Pod Save America Breaking News is brought to you by ZipRecruiter with everyday interactions becoming increasingly impersonal. Someone going just one extra step can be huge. Like when my doctor takes the time to call me with test results instead of sending them electronically. They came back positive for gay. It makes me feel like a human being again. If you're hiring, great candidates can also go the extra step and tell you why they're interested in your job on ZipRecruiter.

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My focus on this, it has little to do with it was like a brilliant ploy by John Assoff. Like, I think it's fine, he did it, it got attention, whatever. I'm like more incensed by the reaction from the right on this, because it's like the hysteria, and it's like, you know,

Scott's trying to say it's not fake. Either it's fake and you're all bullshit or it's not fake and you have no fucking idea what has happened over the last 10 years. Or like, or you're not really. listening to what John Ossoff said or you're reading into something even more than he tried to imply.

Like, what do you? Yeah, I mean, like, what Andrew Gillum's line was a hit dog holler. He's like, to me, the reaction suggests that maybe there is fire where there was smoke. I actually, I think it's great that they're overreacting like this. I think it's great that Stephen Chung in the White House Rapid Response account is basically sharing these John Ossoff remarks. Like, they are doing Ossoff's work for him. They are getting this message out there in a way that doesn't often happen. And you and I were laughing about how there's just sort of like narrative out there in the media, the political media that's like, oh, John Ossef has mastered the clipping economy and in communications.

And it's like, in a sense, yes, he's doing a very effective job of taking a stump speech, putting a couple of kind of newsworthy lines in there, making it gets clipped and shared on social media. Back in the Obama days, we called that a toper on a speech. It was the thing you did every event. I guess it shows how far, like, the party has fallen. It's a pretty standard thing. Communications 101. Right. Like, here's my nut graph that I'm going to hope that people quote.

And I'm going to get the message in there, but I'm going to get something in there that gets it some attention so that the message gets at attention. And then people will talk about it. Like, that's how politics has worked. You know the word news. 75% of that is new. So you say something new about something relevant and interesting every day. And then the media will cover that.

That's what Oshoff is very effectively doing. I know. I saw people be like, well, you know, it just distracted from. the rest of his message. It's like, no, it didn't. No, it didn't. It got the message attention. If it wasn't there, no one would have covered that message. Yes, our friend and former colleague David Azzarad sort of like, you know, did a bit of civility police hand-wringing about the tweet. It's like, Axe, I'm sorry, you're just so wrong here. Yeah. Like, you might not like the suggestion that Ossoff did not make, that frankly I made, right, that like he might be hinting at some

sort of affair or something with Natalie Harp. But it is just unequivocally true that by by including the line about traveling with Natalie, Assoff got these comments a hundred times more attention than they would have. Well, yeah, I just, it's, I thought it was strange that, that Axe came down on that side because I thought that the way Asaf did it was so much more, so much subtler than some resistance libs would do. Like, look, I think when, when Gavin Newsom was on a tear last year and his account was, and they were, like, I thought they went way harsher. Kevin was out there being like, we're selling Trump knee pads. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What is that about? Right. Yeah, exactly. Like, there was a cringe-resistency way to do this that Ossaff did not do. I actually think that he did it in a nice kind of subtle way that everyone kind of got, you know, he raised the question and he got an attention. But it wasn't the overreaction is crazy. Yeah, it was not like subtle, subtle, but it was subtle enough that I think it was entirely appropriate. And by the way, you know, in Trump adjusted terms, give me a break.

I know. I know. I know. I know. Well, there's one person who's actually making sense on this, and this person always is making sense on issues like this, on controversies like this. Let's listen to a straight shooter, Jesse Waters.

To suggest that Trump surrounds himself with attractive women, yeah? I think he's done that his whole life. I don't think he's very upset about the comment. Am I phased by this comment? No. Has Trump said so much. worse, so much more sleazy things against other people. Yes, have I defended those things?

Absolutely. So I'm not going to pretend I'm all hot and bothered about it. And the president doesn't even care. He's like, what? Who? Oh, Peewey Herman? Next. Story was over.

I mean, shout at Jesse. Maybe he should be the next White House press secretary. Maybe he would be better than Scott Jennings. I've seen Jesse Waters make that kind of comment a few times that he just sort of like, doesn't want to get into the civility policing on the left or the right. It's one of the things he's consistent about because I think at the end of the day, he just kind of wants to be kind of, you know, a frat humor, you know, shit talking, you know, like have fun with, like, his commentary.

He also wants to, wants everyone to know that, like, he's in on the game, right? Like, he's like, I get that this is all bullshit that we're, what we're doing here. And I'm just, like, having fun. Now, whether it was intended or not, Jesse Waters had the best sort of, press advice, communications advice about this, which also Donald Trump's instinct was the same as Jesse's, which was when Trump was asked about it in the Oval, he went off on the ballroom and something else, and he didn't show that he was mad at all. Jesse wasn't mad at all. If everyone on the right had just been, had just shrugged it off and been like, oh, Trump doesn't care, we don't care.

No one would be talking about it. Yeah. The one thing Jesse was wrong about is Trump didn't really shrug it off. He seemed a little rattled by it. He was rattle, but he didn't, he didn't flip out, but then he flipped on the reporter later. And it just like it seemed like it got in his head. I got to say, though, calling John Asoff Pee Wee Herman, so lame. Pee Wee's Playhouse was on Big Top Pee We was released in 1988. Well, I mean.

How many people you think know who the hell Pee-E-Herman is at this point? You know, and Maggie Haberman has reported to this and talked about this a lot, but like all of his references are just stuck in the 80s. That's it. He's still living in the 80s. He doesn't have any pop culture references beyond that. Sorry, Peewee's Playhouse ran from 1986 and 1990. Also, John Ossef doesn't look like Pee-Wee Herman.

He's like a young, good-looking guy who's quite effective on this dump. So you can try it. I might go back to the drawing board on the nickname, sir. He's got Alfred E. Newman and Peewey Herman. Those are the two that he uses. Mad magazine. I was a subscriber. Loved it.

And watch Peewey Herman. It's just not working. All right. Finally, there was a debate in South Carolina last night between Darlene Graham and Ralph Norman ahead of the runoff election next week. The winner faces Democrat Annie Andrews to fill the late Lindsay Graham's Senate seat. Darlene, it's Lindsay's sister, has an endorsement from Trump who will be campaigning for her in South Carolina on Friday. Let's see how she did.

I'm sorry, could you repeat the question? Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States? And if so, why or how? I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security. I'm not that informed on national security. So I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military.

My dad was in the Army. I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military. Points for honesty? Yeah. That's like not that hard of a question. Yeah, Like, yes, we support Taiwan,

gerbil, garble, garble, garble, something about China being a threat. You can move on. I don't know what I'm talking about, but vote for me is a tough sell. I was going to say, here's another thing she could have tried out there. In the same vein,

she could have been like, you know what? I haven't caught up as much on this, but I'm going to study these issues and I will know everything about national security and South China once I get to the Senate. Like, she could have still been honest about how she didn't know and not, like, hung such a lantern on her problems that she said three separate times, national security isn't my thing, which is just like giving your opponent

ads. Yeah. And like, I actually think there's a version of, look, national security is not my thing that could not hurt you at all with voters because they're not electing a commander in chief. They're electing a U.S. senator. And it just happened that her deceased brother, RIP, was one of the most bloodthirsty warmongers in the history of the United States. Senate. Maybe that's something people want to move past.

But yeah, I mean, she just looked like a bumbling fucking idiot. Like, sorry to say it. I'm sure she's a lovely person. I found myself enjoying that, but then also being like, I hope it doesn't hurt her too much. Because I actually think, I think the seat is a little bit more in play than people assume if she ends up winning the primary. Because remember, Lindsay Graham only survived his primary because he sucked up so hard to Donald Trump and became so MAGA. But he, underneath that, there were people who were like,

They still thought he was a squish for South Carolina Republicans. Oh, absolutely. Look, there were, Graham always had some bumpy primaries. He would find a way to sort of muddle through it by being a psycho on, you know, immigration or whatever in the last six months. Could she, is there any risk of her losing a general election? I doubt it in South Carolina. I do agree with you. She's a terrible candidate.

I think, look, people are mad at the establishment. They're probably also mad at when the establishment tries to take a Senate seat and provide it as a. gift to a relative. That's not a thing that's going to sit while with a lot of people. That's what I think. I think if you combine, you know, Trump's approval ratings, which are still good in South Carolina, but not as good as they once were. People are upset about Iran there just like everywhere else and prices just like everywhere else. And now you have a candidate who people feel like was forced down their throats and seems like she doesn't know anything. You know, I mean, the couple polls before Lindsay Graham died had Annie Andrews and him like pretty close to

each other. Now those are early polls of who the fuck knows. But I don't think it's, if she wins, I think it's interesting. Yeah, it could be interesting. I just, I have no confidence of Democrats winning that seat ultimately, but we'll find out. I mean, look, everything is weird right now. We've got establishment, more moderate candidates coming out of nowhere to win primaries on the Democratic side. Last night in Florida, we had a DSA candidate coming out of absolutely nowhere to win the Senate primary there. Angie Nixon deputed Alexander Vindman, despite Vindman raising what, like $19 million to her $1 million. So down is up, up is down.

No one knows anything right now. So we'll find out. That one, I feel more confident saying, not sure that we're... Lord, it's a tough state for us. Not sure we're going to... They moved it from likely R to solid R after Angie Nixon won. And look, I think Angie Nixon, when we talked about, you know, she's DSA, and she's basically the first statewide DSA nominee ever. So, but she doesn't, like I looked at some of her videos.

She doesn't seem like it. She doesn't seem like, you know, she was just talking about it. She's like, I don't support defunding the police and all that. She's like more of a fighter. So, like, good for her. If it was, if she had just upset Alexander Vindman in a state like, I don't know, any other state but Florida, any other purple state but Florida, North Carolina even. Florida is tough. Wisconsin, Michigan.

I would be like, okay, maybe that Florida, I just think. Florida, there's just so much demographic change that has gone in favor of the Republicans. There's so many, you know, sort of groups, whether it's Cubans or other, you know, Latino groups that have drifted away from the Democratic Party for a variety of reasons. Socialism is a tough sell among a lot of those, you know, communities from countries that experience real socialism. So who knows? Look, I personally, I'd written off Florida, even if Vind won. I know I heard, I saw someone say this might actually be a blessing for us because we were going to spend a lot of money in Florida that was pointless anyway. I know we can save that money.

So I was like, that's not bad. Pod Save America is a crooked media production. Our show is produced by Austin Fisher, Saul Rubin, McKenna Roberts, and Ferris Safari with Reed Jirlin, Elijah Cohn, and Adrian Hill.

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