Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar - 7/19/24: Saagar Asks Andrew Schulz "Do You Regret Voting For Trump", JD Vance Vibe Check

Episode Date: July 19, 2025

Saagar sits down with Andrew Schulz and crew to discuss whether they regret voting for Trump, how they conducted the Trump interview, does JD Vance pass the vibe check?, and more. Andrew Schulz Fragrant Pod: https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialFlagrant To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: https://breakingpoints.locals.com/support    Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Absolutely, my man. All right. So we want it. I wanted to do this. Both Crystal and I have been wanting to talk to you guys for a while, kind of a reflection of the podcast bro and the election. Andrew, you specifically have come under a lot of fire recently as the podcast bro, the guy who like led the way for Trump, but now is apparently having some regrets.

You don't know that Trump had no support until Andrew said he was gonna vote. It's funny, I know. He was like gonna lose. Okay, well, let's put it this way. I wouldn't say it swung the election, but I also wouldn't say that it wasn't unimportant to have Trump on all of these, right? And this is just part of like kind of that segment of the audience.

And so my question is that in retrospect, do you wish that you would handle the Trump interview differently? No, not at all. Now that you've seen him. No, not at all. So go into that a little bit. No, I don't regret a single thing about it. I don't know why, I don't even know where the question comes from.

Well the question comes from an idea that was a lot of criticism from the quote, non-independent media, and they were like, well, Trump is going on these podcasts to kind of whitewash his reputation and basically to not face quote, tough journalistic questions. Yeah, it just depends what your expectation of journalism journalism is. I think that like, I mean

you can speak to this a lot, but I was speaking to David Marquesi at the New York Times about this. Yeah, I read your interview. Yeah, so it's like, and you know, there was some moments where he was like asking me some questions and I was like, ah, this is where things feel a little bit gotcha. Because he was assuming that I talked to Bernie about one thing that I didn't talk to Trump about. And I'm like, but when did I talk to Bernie about it?

And he's like, well, I can't exactly say it. I'm like, well, that's kind of where Phil's got you because you're coming in with a specific intention. Yeah, that's right. So like, and I actually think that he was like really fair and that was a great interview. But like an example of like my least favorite type of journalism, just the most low hanging fruit

is like the girl that interviewed Tim Dillon. It's not really an interview. It's like an indictment. It's like, I think this thing of you and I seek to prove that to my audience. I'm not coming here with any curiosity. So like, we don't see ourselves as like, I can't speak for the guys, but like as journalists so much to say, it's just like people that are having conversations that we're curious with. Now, I understand that when you get a lot of people listening, like, yeah, you should, like, if you're a responsible person, like, think about, like, what you owe, I guess, to the audience and have that discussion.

That's fair, and don't get me wrong. But, like, I don't subscribe to this idea that, like, you have to ask these hard questions that you're not curious about, or people that watch will criticize you. It's like, you don't have to watch. Sure. If you're in front of me,

I'm gonna ask you the things that I'm curious about. People are like, why don't you ask him about Epstein? I'm like, oh, so he can give the same fucking answer he's given for the last two decades? It's like, he's not gonna immediately sit down with me and then after three questions be like, you know, we used to fuck them kids. Yeah.

That's not how these things work. So like, for me, I think one of the reasons for the rise in podcasting, opposed to like normal or traditional media, is that you have people asking questions that they're authentically interested in instead of asking questions that like they think that their boss wants them to ask, or they're worried their base wants to ask. Because now you're not even curious in the questions you're asking. You're asking them out of fear of retribution from your audience and now you're captured

by your audience instead of your own curiosity. And I would also say, yeah, absolutely. There are at that point in the polls, they were actually neck and neck and Trump always overperforms in polls. So I don't know what impact we actually had, but there were two candidates left for president of the United States. I don't want to talk to both of them. I want to talk to both of them.

And second of all, there's things we all talked about that we wanted to ask Trump, but I could do the thing that feels really good, where I ask a gotcha question and I dunk on you, and then he gets up and he walks off and he says, go fuck yourself. I know, I've seen enough interviews with this guy to know, I have to relate to him on a human level,

and then when he feels safe, maybe he'll answer the questions I want to ask. Are you going to him on a human level. And then when he feels safe, maybe he'll answer the questions I want to ask. Are you going to run for a third term? Are you willing to tone down the rhetoric? I got to ask those questions, but you had to get to the point where he's willing to answer those questions. So I could have done the thing that feels good

and dunked on him, but we would have gotten absolutely nowhere. And that's a tactical thing. No, it's important. You just have to have the things that you want to ask and ask him. And I had three things I wanted to ask him about. I asked him about those three things.

And that was it. I will say my only wish is that Kamala came on. Yeah. To me it seems like a Nixon-Humphreys thing where like, you know, they have the laugh-in moment and Nixon does it and it turns out great. And that it was a strategic blunder from their side to not go on to these, you know, non-traditional platforms.

Alex, anything? Same, demo would mark it. Well, I think the question then is- If we have Kamala on, you really can't say anything, because we're gonna ask Kamala the same questions, we're gonna have the same curiosity. We're gonna laugh with her. We're gonna make her look like a human.

Exactly, and the authentic curiosity is gonna shine through, and if she bombs the interview, that's on her. If she does great, that's on her if she does great That's on her just like with Trump, but we're gonna ask the things that we're curious about and I think that like The numbers show that if you look anything from Rogan you look anything to like Alex Cooper It's not just this right wing thing There's a left wing when people are asking the questions that they're curious about the interviews are Indulged far more when they're doing puff, the interviews are indulged far more.

When they're doing puff piece things like when Alis Cooper had comelon, nobody gives a fuck about it. And I think that tells you everything you want. Yeah, I don't disagree at all. But if we were to flip it around, if for Trump were to come back today, which we hope he will, right?

I hope you guys put it in your ass. They put a statement out about you guys. Would it be different tonally this time around? Now that you've actually had him in office and would you feel what like, how would you feel as somebody then who had been critical of him walking into that? Like tonally, would it be different in terms of the, the tenor that you might take and asking a follow-up question? Here's the thing. Like we said this before, like I'm not in one of your fucking cults. Like I'm not in the right wing called the left. Like, I'm not in the right wing, call it the left wing, call it the free American, and I'll ask whatever

fucking questions I want to ask. OK, so like, for me, when somebody's in power, that's not when you relax. Especially if it's a person that you voted for. That's where you hold them to their promises. So like, Trump comes back on, which he's absolutely invited to come back on, he's the leader of the free world. I want to know what's up with the Epstein shit.

Like, you campaigned hard, your boys campaigned hard, your girls campaigned hard on it. I want to know why we're not seeing it. I want to know why you were so flippant about it. So I want to know that. I want to know what's going on with the foreign wars. And specifically, is diplomacy harder than you thought? And what are the restrictions to your power

when it comes to diplomacy? You know, and like you've been president already, you must know that diplomacy is difficult. Why do you think it would be easier this time around? And what are the hiccups? So like, I want to know these things, but it's not about like a different tenor or anything like that. When you're running for president, it's hope. What will you do?

You're selling me dreams. Sure. Right? And when you are president, it's delivery. And delivery is way harder than hope. You know what I mean? I mean, I loved Obama. I voted for him. I'm so excited about Obama. I know that you're not a big fan. But to me, yes. And it's like, he sold us hope so well. Some people will be like, ah, he under-delivered on that hope. Some people will be like, he over-delivered. It was amazing to see what he got accomplished. You know, if you ask anybody who had pre-existing conditions, I think that they're pretty fucking happy, Republican or Democrat,

what he was able to put through. So, to me, that's what it's all about. It's just like, and if you're not willing to, like, hold the person that you voted for to the standards that they expected, then you're not a real person that cares about, like, what's happening in America. Right, yeah. Like, if you were one of these people that refused to acknowledge that Biden was senile for four years,

like, and now you're lecturing me about holding Trump accountable, I think that you need to take, like, a long look in the mirror about what you're willing to do for the people that you voted for. That is a very, very fair question. Do you guys have anything to add on that? To add to that, The questions would be tougher

because we are disappointed in what we're seeing. But the tenor of the question still has to be asked in a way that I feel confident you will answer. If it's, hey man, what the fuck are you doing? This bullshit ass thing, it sucks. Do you think he's gonna answer that question? I don't disagree with that. That's more at the people who, yeah.

Yeah, well, what I'm doing is I'm imbibing, there isn't even independent media. So the left independent media that I have been able to interact with, they have a theory that the podcast guys were basically taken for a ride. They're looking at it as, look, Trump knew that he wasn't gonna get asked

anything that he might get on NBC News or anywhere else. He basically wanted to use the audience to convince them that he was a normal dude and get them to vote for him. And that in retrospect, it looks bad. Isn't that what every politician does? So I agree, I'm just getting to that point. So it's like to the extent that you think that that happened, like it's not a complicity question.

It's really more about a question of how do you balance that in the art of politics? I think you guys are more forgivable if that makes sense in that critique because you actually have had on a lot of people but I'm saying speaking generally like to the the Theo von and Joe Rogan and what Nelk boys and All of the podcast the bussin, you know podcast and all the bussin with the boys and all that like he obviously Used that to some political advantage. And now many of those people are upset, and they're not necessarily as willing as you

to kind of speak out against that or to invite the other side. Who is upset? Well, I'm saying so. Some of the people who privately have had on these people may be upset at the things that Trump has done. Another podcaster might be upset with Trump, but may less that.

But they're not as willing right now, you know, to be able to say anything. They have to couch their criticisms, maybe less so than you have. So, like, how do you look at it, like, generally? For me personally, I'm curious. I've heard so much things about Trump from the media. Oh, he's this, he's that. But seeing him in person in long form, he has less of an opportunity to bullshit us.

Like, once you're talking for a good amount of time, you can start to gauge, and I wanted to really know who he was. And I got a sense, he was much sharper than I thought he was. Like he's aware of everything going on. He's an immediate creature. Yeah, so it's like that. It's actually amazing to watch, I agree. To me, anybody who wouldn't want to speak to somebody

who's former president and potentially the next president. You're not a serious person. Yeah, like it doesn't make sense. No, we're not talking about, this. This isn't a platforming argument. No, but they're saying that they might have used us. This is about being used, like to the extent of like, to convince voters and to use people. Because look, I'm telling you guys this did happen. Like I had multiple Trump interview requests in and they were basically like, no.

And I heard it off the record. It's like, bro, you're going to ask him two hard questions. Like it was quite literally told to me, right? Now I think there's a reason he's going on Theo Vaughn and all, you know, another place because they didn't think that that was gonna happen. So, I mean, like, that's what I'm asking for reflection. I had three things I wanted to ask him about.

And the entire interview was, in my mind, I think, like, designed to get him to a place of comfort where he could honestly speak at length on those things. I wanted him to acknowledge he was gonna protect IVF. It's obviously important to me. It's not my wife and I were able to conceive. And I want- Roe versus Wade, we're abortion. We wanted to ask him about that, we did.

Oh yeah, we asked him about the abortion, but it was, yeah, there was like a little interest in that for sure, but for me, it was empathy for the illegals, which doesn't seem that he's doing, you know, and- And to his credit, man, Andrew said to Trump, you have had people working in your establishment who were here yeah you did say that yeah so it's like and then there was one more that's going to be nicer I thought no it was not nicer but it's like more down the red what are we doing here and then there was obviously the end in the four foreign wars Al said your ear looks

fine yeah if you listen, we said some shit. But this is the revisionist history that's so funny, and I think it's very important, because I think what happens a lot of times is people are looking to skirt accountability. So anybody that's critical of these interviews would like to put all the success of Trump's campaign on these interviews instead of putting some accountability

on the fact that they ran a dead guy and then a woman that couldn't speak. Like, you need to, at the end of the day, take some accountability for not really having another offering that was successful to the majority of people. So I think it's easier to just place that blame. So I think there's a little bit of that going on.

And we called him out for evading the question and then he was clever enough to come up with a term that's the weave. What did he say? It's the weave. The weave. But no, the revisionist history I'm talking about is, if you remember, and there are plenty of articles that support this, the second that interview came out, the conversation was not, look at this puff piece. The conversation was on all left-wing media,

was podcast hosts laughing in Trump's face about claiming that he's a kind of truthful person. They held him- That was a breaking point. They held him- It was good, it was a good headline. It was every headline. I was watching in real time,

the Kamala campaign was clipping the interview. Yeah, you're right. Kamala HQ cl clipping the interview. Yeah, yeah, I remember. Kamala HQ clipped it. They clipped it nonstop. So if you actually look at this, the left wing media was using this as fuel for their fire. They weren't going, look at this puff piece. They asked the nice questions.

When everybody watched initially, the left was very happy about it. They're like, finally a podcast bro, whatever, holds him to the, finally there's all this stuff. So this revisionist history where like after the election results we look back and be like, oh they just fluffed him. It's like well what was it? Was it the best interview with Trump,

which you guys said, the left wing is saying, or was it the reason he got elected? Yeah, I like, no, it's a very fair question. That's why I feel like this stuff is like disingenuous. Well, it's kind of flipping. If he lost, it would have been, oh, Trump ruined his election by going on all these talks. Exactly. And people did say that, right?

Remember, like, oh, Tony Hinchcliffe is going to cost Trump the election. Puerto Rican vote went up. Also, taken for a ride, this is a ride that was open to Kamala. She didn't want to come on. Right. It was open for Waltz, he didn't want to come on.

It was open for everybody. We literally asked wanna come on. It was open for everybody. We literally asked everybody and they all ducked in. But then after the election now, a lot of them are coming on, which I think is good. And I think it's a great thing. Which is what we want. And I think that's the interesting part, you know, to watch Buttigieg kind of come on here and his clips went massively viral. And so did Bernie.

And he was fantastic. And I think what a lot of people are realizing that don't just watch headlines, the people who eventually wouldn't really watch us and had a perception of us, and then they go watch like the full Buddha Judge interview, they watch the full, is that like this idea that like we're this like MAGA pod is really just kind of like placed on us. In reality, we're four guys who live in New York City born and raised, I mean Alex and I were born and raised in New York City, like lifelong Democrats, right? Who felt this- I voted for Kamau. Yeah.

Yeah, we forgive him. Right. The, uh... But like, so this idea of us, I think, you obviously know us, so it's like not really true. And then I think people are trying to grapple with when they watch the Buddha judge interview, like what they thought we were,

and then what we actually are. And that's what happens when you only read and watch headlines. Now, what I always say is like, we're accountable for that. When we put content out on the internet, you know it can be cut and sliced in all these different ways. So like, that's not their fault. That's our, I don't want to call fault, but we're accountable. That's totally fine.

That's the game we play. Of course. And eventually we hope that enough different voices come on the podcast, as we've all endeavored to do, where people get a better sense of us. But you're going to go through criticism on the way. And if the first time you get criticism, you fold, you never really were about in the first place.

Yeah. All right. Let's switch to immigration. Because this is where I find the most interesting divide. So I don't know if it's true. And I didn't ask Joe if it was true. But there was a report about dinner. Joe Rogan had dinner with Trump, and he was like,

hey, I want you to go lighten up on mass deportation. You have been very open about it. You're like, I wish that he wasn't doing this. That's the one thing where I'm like, you really didn't know what you were voting for? Like, there was a sign that said mass deportation at the RNC, right? Like, it literally said it. He said, I'm going to declare the Alien Enemies Act,

and I'm going to deport them immediately on day one. Like, it was always open season. There was no distinction, criminal or not. Maybe sometimes, but like, it was pretty open. It's like, if you're illegal, you're going home. So, I mean, look, I understand real politic and like, you know, you have to balance certain things, but that's where I've seen some of the like, come on guys, what are you talking about? Yeah. In your pushback here against Trump,

you voted, quite literally voted for this. Yeah, that's reasonable, but I didn't bring up immigration when I said these weren't the things I'm voting for. Okay, fair enough. That's where it's just ingenuous. I was specifically talking about Epstein, foreign wars, and the budget. Sure.

And then they go, look at all this stuff with immigration, that's not what you voted for. It's like, I'm not bringing that up. If I brought that up, then that would have been the context. Obviously, I think the bummer is that like, it's a bipartisan supported issue to get every criminal illegal alien out of here. I think when you start to get the divide

is when you have people that have been working for your family for years, you see these hardworking people, they're doing these businesses. Yes, they're here illegally. Yes, they came illegally and they knew if they got caught, they'd be thrown back. That is the game.

I get that. But it pulls the chargers when you see like a family being torn apart or you see them running into a fucking Home Depot and these guys scattered. Like, as a human being, you have an emotional reaction to that. Okay. So I have a lot of empathy for that

and that's what I spoke to Trump about. I was like, guys, maybe there's a better way. I don't know how you go about doing I don't know how Holman does it but if you at least bare minimum just started with anybody who had committed a crime I think you would get a lot more support, which is what he told us he would do. Hmm Well, I mean look again though I want to be fair to them alien enemies act was out there like they were like this is what we're doing like See, yeah, I'll Salvadorast and El Salvador, it was honest. No, I don't think they were dishonest,

but I also don't think that you have to agree with every single policy that a president has in order to vote for them. I totally agree with that. And I don't think that you are accountable for every single one. You could say, yes, you supported it because if you voted for that person, you did 100%,

but it doesn't mean you agree with it. You know what I mean? Like, I'm sure there's a lot of people that voted for Obama that might not agree with drone striking a wedding. Are they responsible for those deaths? Is that the thing that they voted for? Like, did I kill those people?

No, I wouldn't want that to happen, right? So I think there's a lot of things that governments do. I think that people that voted for, you know, different politicians in Flint, Michigan, they don't feel responsible for all those kids who were poisoned by the lead pipes, but technically they did vote for those politicians that allowed that to happen.

So this is one of those things where it's just like, people are hurt, they're angry, and I think that they're trying to like place that blame for that pain and that anger they feel. And I get that, that's a human reaction, you're totally allowed to do it. But I'm just gonna explain like my perspective on that. To your point, in 2008,

didn't Obama say he was against gay marriage? So if you voted for Obama, is it your fault it didn't get passed? Yeah, are you a homophobe? You must be a homophobe if you voted for Obama. Well, the irony is he won more votes and that's how he was able to become president by doing that.

And he's gay. Oh, who won? Reckless Quasar. I'm joking, Barry, we love you! Yeah. All right, so the final one, which I think is a very interesting question, is around vibes. And so the biggest critique I have seen,

and I'll be honest, I even fell victim to some of this, was you guys were voting on vibes, not on policy. Not you specifically, but this contributed to the vibe-based election where you encouraged people or got people, everyone was in a head space, where the vibe was that Kamala and Biden were awful and that Trump was awesome.

So to the extent here that there is regret, was any of it, quote, vibes-based in retrospect? If you remove vibes, because I think vibes is a little bit. It's ambiguous, it's hard to. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's excitement. It's, I think. Yes, it was in the ether, right? I would say culture.

Yeah. Like there's a specific, like they invited me to go to the inauguration and I didn't go to the inauguration. Good move in retrospect. But it's, but in my, in my opinion was like, if I go to the inauguration, I'm endorsing everything about you, right? I'm going there and celebrating this moment. It's like, no, no, you have some ideas that I would like to see implemented.

And the second you don't implement those ideas, I'm on that ass. And if you do implement them, I'm going to praise you for implementing the ideas that I believe are good. But I think when you start going to the events and you start dancing and that kind of shit, then it makes it very difficult for you to hold that person to the fire. Which is what we're watching right now. There's a lot of podcasts, guys. You went to the inauguration and now it's all very tepid, right?

It's like, oh, well, yeah, I went, you know, it's terrible and they have bad advisors. And I'm like, well, you know, it's terrible and they have bad advisors. And I'm like, well, you know, it's not just the advisor. There's, there's- Hold the candle to that ass. What was the question you were asking real quick? It was about vibes.

And it was just a reflection on a vibe space. What I would say is that like, I think a lot of people were voting on culture and there might not be policy tied to culture. But for example, like one cultural issue I think was the identity politics stuff. I think that there was like an exhaustion by it and it looked like the culture that Trump was ushering through is like, yo, we're not going to be obsessed with the word police

and the identity politics and everything is 40 different genders and you got to put the genders of your pronouns on your body. Like that cultural shift I think was very supportive, especially by like the guys in the manuscript, let's say. And I think that that captured people and that is not necessarily a policy thing, but you have seen a massive shift and you see all these politicians start taking their pronouns out of their Twitter bio, right? You start to see. So I don't know what policy that is, but it does feel like it's a move in a direction for a culture shift that people want to get on board.

Yeah, I totally agree. And piggybacking on the culture, I would say, I would call that just excitement. Because we've seen with Obama, the way that he got people excited. We have a low voter turnout in general, but he got people who never voted before excited to vote for the first time.

This last election, Trump got people excited to vote. So, and then you've seen Mondani. Mondani got people excited to vote. And then you've seen Mondani. Mondani got people excited to vote in a primary. We never vote in primaries. Nobody gives a fuck about primaries. Especially in New York City. So that's what I'm saying. He won the most votes in primary history.

With ranked choice voting. But still, I mean, that's a lot of votes. So that's what I'm saying. It's more about excitement. It's not vibes. Depending on how you describe vibes, define vibes, most elections probably come down to vibes. Bill Clinton is vibes. JFK was to vibes. Bill Clinton is vibes.

JFK was fucking vibes, Bill Clinton was vibes. This is the first time Republicans had vibes and y'all can't handle it. But that's because y'all, Reagan had vibes. This is the first time in our lifetimes that they had vibes and y'all ran some with no vibes. Who is the dude that says yeah and then just lost everything? Howard Dean.

Howard Dean. Yeah, I mean that's Dean Howard They fucked him on that Because he was the against the Iraq war that it was used against him I'll stand up for how it is quintessentially vibe. I totally like it How I didn't do anything wrong I'll say but I mean the vibe to March point and con her campaign I think we're also trying to run an equal encounter vibe energy where they were like, we are joy,

and we are the party of joy, and those guys are weird, and we're joy. They were trying to manufacture vibes. Right, okay, so then finally. That's what I was, I was just. There was a moment where it felt like they were gonna break through.

I don't know if you guys remember. Yeah, it was summer 2020. It was like this moment. Or 2024, I mean. Yeah, where like, it seemed like they were having a big turnout at their live events And they were trying to they were looking at Trump. They're like, yo, nobody's showing up to his

I need him in that debate and then the first debate like yo It was it was there was a moment where it seemed like there was a lot of positive energy and I've spoken to a lot Of my friends that like were really staunch Kamala supporters and like worked in Democratic campaigns and what they said to me, which is really interesting, in retrospect, they're like, I thought Kamala was gonna blow them away. I thought it was gonna be an absolute blowout. And what this showed me is that I was kind of existing

in a little bit of a bubble. And I think that that's really helpful. Like, I think it's good that people start to learn that if you're existing in an echo chamber that's not only rewarded by like your friends and community, but also your algorithm, you don't get a real sense of what's happening in the world. And I think being able to pull themselves out of that, they start going, Oh, maybe not every person that voted for Trump is MAGA.

Maybe a lot of people that voted were just rejecting this democratic institution that seemed to like strip its constituents, constituents of the democratic process. And I think now they're starting to realize that, and whenever you see Pete or Bernie or any of these guys talk about it, they're quite critical of what happened in these last elections, and that's refreshing. Well, I want to hear more from Pete, in particular.

Well, he's also part of that whole dark... Yeah, he's part of the machine. But even as part of the machine, when he came on here, he didn't balk at it. Fair enough, yeah. No, you guys did a good job of that whole story. He's part of the machine. But even as part of the machine, when he came on here, like he didn't balk at it. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah. But yeah. No, you guys did a good job on that actually.

And to be honest, he will have to still pay for his role, like in all of that. Because I mean, he worked for the guy and he didn't say anything, right? At the end of the day. I want to end on the Mamdani point, which is what you were talking about. And you've quite a bit of news. Mag is very pissed off at you. They're like, how is a Muslim socialist America first? Be pissed at me, though. Be pissed at me.

But the question... As long as both extremes are pissed at me, I am in the perfect space. All right, so then let's talk about the New York vote first comment. Because, okay, then to the extent you're a guy in our culture, Matt Damon's and Jason Bourne's in your fucking promo video. Shout out Matt. That's pretty big.

All right, so the question then on that front is as somebody who voted for Trump and they can look at a guy like Mamdani, who if you were to watch Fox News, everyone's like, this guy's a Muslim socialist, he's gonna destroy New York. And you look at this person, you say this person is New York first.

What in the culture leads you to that conclusion? And then also to like surmise his victory here in the Democratic primary in New York. I mean, New York first to me means he's trying to address issues that New Yorkers have instead of gaslighting New Yorkers into thinking they don't have issues. So like the specific moment happened obviously when they're all in that like little like public access debate stage. It was embarrassing that the greatest city in the history of the world, they got like three fucking disposable cameras that they're videotaping

just on these like plastic podiums. We're in Nice Studio right now. The fuck is going on? We should have lent them the studio, right? So, so, and then they all ask him where their first foreign trip is going to be, which is not important to New Yorkers. If I can't pay rent, where you go for your first foreign trip is not important. Okay. And then he goes, I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay right here and work for New Yorkers. Immediately, that's a New York first mentality.

Him doing the halal shit feels like New York first. Him saying rent freezes. Now, keep in mind, I disagree with a lot of his policies. And I am really curious to see how he will enact them. One, I think they'll be quite difficult given like the structure of our democracy. Like you're going to have to deal with Albany to raise taxes. I've talked about this as well. It's a procedural point, which non New Yorkers actually have no idea about. The way this place is run is insane.

It's very difficult, right? So I do think that he'll have difficulty in executing these things. But when you wanna talk about vibes, you wanna talk about culture, what he's bringing forward is an idea that he is fighting to get people in New York the things that they need. And what they need is savings. What they need is, hey, did I get it?

Yeah, I think you got it. Oh, you got it. Oh, no. They need is, hey, did I get it? Yeah, I think you got it. Oh, you got it. Oh, no. What they need is... We're going to quit that. ...screens on our windows. Yeah. No, no, no. But like, yeah, so like, when I say he's New York First, it seems like he's

actually trying to serve the people of New York the things that they desperately need. And do I agree with his solutions? No. Can he convince me when he comes on to the podcast? Sure. I would love to learn why this works. From the people that I've spoken to, I can see some downstream effects, especially with the rent freezes and stuff that might hurt, but let's hear it. I want to hear it out and I feel like they're appealing to what New Yorkers need. I don't know what the fuck Cuomo wants to do. Has Cuomo told you how he's going to help you? He's just going... He's going to visit Israel though. Yeah, that's important.

That's great. Yeah, you put all people in homes, you let them die, you don't report it. That's New York... And if you haven't heard anything, that means it's gonna be status quo. Exactly. So if they're not saying anything, then you assume it's gonna be the same.

And I think that an important thing that people need to realize, and I think Trump benefited from this, I think Obama benefited from this, we have much more leeway for an outsider's ideas than we do an insider. Interesting. Okay, why? And how would you explain that to a Democrat who wants to win, not just flagrant vote, but let's say the audience who's watching? Well, I think an insider, the expectation is it's going to be status quo. It's going

to be the same thing that we've existed in that's not working for us. Right? So if you're an insider and you don't have any crazy rebellious idea and you don't be, because you've been in politics for 20, 30 years, I'm going to assume that the exact same life that I'm living now is going to happen when you're in office. An outsider has all these cockamamie ideas that they might not be able to be implemented, but at least they have hope that they could be. Right? And that is seductive when you're struggling. Hope is the most amazing thing. It's the antidote for everything.

So let's see if they're able to implement it. Let's see if Trump is able to do these things that he promised us he would do. And then if they don't, let's hold them to the fire. Let's say, oh, Mom Donnie does get elected, and then he's not able to do these things. Hold that ass to the fire. Yeah. And there'sdani does get elected and then he's not able to do these things. Hold that ass to the fire. And there's hope for insiders too because you could be a Bernie. He's been in the system forever and he still goes.

But he's been consistent right? That's very definite. He seems like he's like an outcast. But I think you can change from inside. When you look at the Trump election I look back on that Kamalas for they them ad and I'm like holy fuck that. Which was huge. Had a massive impact. Equally with Mamdani, I think you watch that clip from that debate that you talked about, there is no question one of them seems like an outsider

because the insiders are saying, I'm gonna go to Israel, I'm gonna go to, and if you're watching that, you're like, what the fuck does this have to do with anything? What's going on with you guys? And then the fact that anybody could take, obviously my brother, I'm gonna defend him always, but like to take exception to him saying

Mamdani comes across across New York first, when every other person made it about another country, and then he says, I'm taking care of New York first, he literally says he's New York first, how are we supposed to interpret that in your family? And then Portnoy is like, he's a socialist, he's a communist, he's doing all these things, it's like, Portnoy, just say you're upset

about the Israel shit. Like, stop acting like you don't live in New York. Stop acting like you care. You live in Miami, bro. Exactly. Stop acting like you care if a socialist communist runs New York. You're upset because he said globalize the Intifada. Just make it about that.

You're allowed to make it about that. Sure. But don't... And they tried already, actually. How did that work out? Yeah, and it doesn't work. But like... You spend enough days, just enough days here to not pay New York taxes. And then you go back.

I don't blame you for it, I'd do it too, but like, let's be honest. Stop it, yeah, exactly, that's what I'm saying. And you're allowed to be upset about that. You should, saying fucking globalize the identifada and then not backing it off, knowing what it means to people, it's like, that's fucked up, and you should be able to be held accountable for it,

and he can be fucked up. But don't give me this, I'm afraid of communism and socialism and try to attribute this thing Jamie Dimon said to me. Jamie Dimon knows what New Yorkers are going through. He knows what real New Yorkers are going through. Also, he lives in Connecticut. Yeah. Anyway, yeah. I'm pretty sure you don't fact check me. I'm sure he owns a penthouse or

whatever. I don't care what nobody says about Mondani if you're not spending more than 51% of the year in this city. Yeah, true. If you're not spending more than 51%, you're not pot-committed. So just shut the fuck up about it. Like, we're the one that got to deal with it. I like it.

I mean, I think that's the final kind of thing I wanted to end on, was to just look at whether... Again, you don't have to put personalized if you don't want to, but do you think that the podcast bro audience is up for grabs for the Democrats the next time around? Absolutely. Why do you say that?

I'm up for grabs. It's not just for you, I'm talking about the whole ecosystem and you know them better than I do. Let me tell you why. Theo, Joe Rogan, Tim Dillon, everybody. Let me tell you why. Look at the, this bug is gonna get killed. Yeah.

Oh, did you get it? No, he didn't. No, he didn't. Come on. All killed. Oh, did you get it? No, he didn't. Come on. All right. Octopus reflexes. So, so the... As soon as I slapped on you that she was ugly. I regretted moving.

The... Reloose ass wrist. I'll tell you why it's up for grabs, because we're allegedly this big, mega podcast, and Pete Buttigieg comes on and has the biggest interview of his career. Not our biggest interview of our career has the biggest interview of his career. Not our biggest interview of our career, his biggest interview. That was Trump, no I'm kidding.

It was actually Rogan and Mr. Beast. You know, but like, so the biggest interview of his career is our listeners. Bernie comes on, has a massive episode with R? So what it says to me is that what you think is our listenership is not. Now we know this because I've been doing stand-up around the world and I have the most diverse audience in all of stand-up. So all these white people complaining about all this bullshit who have no friends that are minorities at all, we laugh at them when we go to a show and we see what it is and

looks like the fucking UN. So what I think is, it's very simple. Whoever has the ideas that meet the needs of the people and can actively convince us that they can execute those ideas is going to win our vote. It's going to win my vote. Facts. 100%. Yeah. Trump had better ideas to me. Okay. Then what I saw from the institution, the democratic institution, which had a guy who was dead as president and then inserted another person that none of us voted for even in the primary in the first place. To me, that subverts democracy and I don't like that.

I'm an American. All right. Go ahead. Not to mention the class issue, I think inflation and then a lot of foreign wars is an issue that can be won by either side. Yeah. Go on that.

If Democrats decide that they're gonna really focus on that in the next election, then I think people, regardless of which political aisle they fall into, will, I think, be responsive to it. Can I bring up to that point real quick? You're the one on time, Devin. You're the one on time, Devin. Right here, my boy.

Don't worry about that. We can stretch a little bit. This is a very important thing, I think, for Democrats to know. When the Republican Party wins union support, it is something that you've got to pay very close attention to. If the Democratic Party does not stand for union workers, what does it stand for? What does it stand for? I agree.

Identity politics? I don't know. I mean, I think that's what happened. Yeah, I'm with you. The Democratic Party should hold down union support. And when they decide to either not endorse anybody or some of them endorse Trump, you have to realize that there's something else going on here. Right. Like, you know, that's that's what I would say.

Like, how does Trump appealing with Republican policies to union workers? Right. Where the fuck do those cross? So what I think it is, is they just felt like the Democrats weren't answering any of their concerns at all. To me, it seems like really what you're saying is everything has to be outsider, which is a really interesting problem for the Democrats because it's a party that venerates insiders and punishes outsiders, guys like Ro Khanna, who I know you guys recently.

Absolutely. And that'll be the interesting war for them. And maybe they will pick a Buttigieg who's able to speak to you and also, you know, Mr. MSNBC. I think it's outsiders. All right. I think they'll get in. I hope that you're right for the sake of the country.

I'm still personally skeptical. I think people are just disillusioned. A lot of the people, if they listen to this podcast and vote for Trump, they're just disillusioned with how things was. Yeah. He seemed like things would be different. Now they're not. I guarantee you a lot of people listen to this podcast are disillusioned with how things was. He seemed like things would be different. Now they're not. I guarantee you a lot of people who listen to this podcast are disillusioned with him right now.

So bring us somebody that feels different, that will do differently, and then they'll vote for that person. Okay, okay, vibe check question from all of you. JD Vance, if he runs in 2028. What's your vibe check on him? I think JD Vance is gonna have to grapple with one of the most difficult things

in the history of this country. And that is like how AI will fundamentally change the workforce. And I think that he is uniquely situated in that he comes from a place in America that was absolutely devastated by outsourcing. He comes from Appalachia, he comes from like a drugged up household unfortunately,

and he saw what outsourcing does to a community. And once, well, you could call thriving community, at least there was some economic impact there. And now, you know, it's like, I think there's an Appalachia scholarship that they offer anybody who basically passes high school, you get free college in the state of Ohio. I mean, they treat white people there like Native Americans. It's unbelievable, right? So like, for me, I would ask JD, it's like, how are you gonna make sure the rest of America doesn't turn into the exact place

that you grew up in? And what are you gonna do right now? Like, I don't think you should be waiting. I think you should be doing it right. What policies are you implementing right now? You have the ear to the president. What are you telling we need to do to protect that from happening? And how are you going to grapple with that when Peter Thiel is funding your campaign?

Well, so this is what I was really, that's a fantastic question, by the way. I meant more about like vibe check as an insider or outsider. He got to work on his jog. That jog was suspect. He seems insider-y to me in that he just seems like a politician. I think he's a brilliant chameleon, and he will mold to whatever he needs to be.

Because the fact that he called Trump Hitler and he's now his vice president, how the fuck does that happen? I'm keeping my personal feelings out of this. Because I genuinely want to know. Like, I'm like, how do you guys feel about the guy? I think we don't really know what, I think- Like, you mentioned the Teal thing.

I know Theo was upset about that. Yeah, no, I'm very- Yeah. Because they've invested in him for a long time now. They put a lot of money in, so they're eventually going to ask for something for that. And I don't know, maybe Trump doesn't get all that big tech investment if JD's not there. Who knows? I think so. They didn't sign on until JD was announced.

Fair. Yeah. So, that's the name of the game, and I'm sure JD's aware of that. So, the thing about JD is that there's, without a question, he's been doing defense for Trump, right? So, he is obviously very intelligent. If you treat him like some country bumpkin, you're a fucking idiot, he's gonna walk all over you.

He's ready for every fucking interview, and the emotional intelligence is through the roof. The guy, he's broke as shit growing up, ends up going to Yale. Offers nothing to the Nepo babies and oligarchs kids at Yale. He offers nothing. And somehow manages to navigate that social strata,

which is very difficult, even if you're a Nepo baby. I agree. I've known JD since 2015, so I agree with you. What I think a lot of times, Dems, they're not really treating him with maybe the respect and fear that they should. Okay. Once he's unleashed, we're going to see what happens, but he's not allowed to be unleashed yet.

He's in defense mode for Trump. Trump fucks up, JD goes and explains it in a way that everybody goes, oh, that is kind of a good point. He's like a think tank for when Trump does something that's unpopular. I want to know what he got to do. But yeah, he's going to have a massive issue depending on how Trump's, you know, second term actually finishes,

because he'll ultimately have to answer for a lot of the domestic as well as the foreign policy decisions. And if there's some type of like foreign invasion in Iran, then he will either have to distance himself internally, which as we know, Trump like is adamant about loyalism. So he's here now criticizing Zelensky in the White House and then we'll have to somehow backtrack on that

if he's trying to get elected or he'll have to try to justify an Iran invasion in the event that that happens, hopefully not. And I think that it will be consequential if he tries to run. I think if Trump ends his term really poorly, I don't think he wins a primary. And if it ends really well, I think Trump is going to run for a third term. So, what's he going to do?

I like it. Guys, Andrew, you got to get out of here. Thank you guys so much for having me. Let me use the studio. Anytime, bro. We love you. We appreciate you. Just like great shoes, great books take you places. Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robay and this is Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from Hello Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts, where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars,

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