Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar - 8/10/26: Mitch McConnell Discharged, Hillary Warns Abdul About Communist Attacks

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Krystal and Saagar discuss Mitch McConnell discharged, Hillary gives advice to Abdul El-Sayed. Trita Parsi: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/    To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: www.breakingpoints.com    Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam Jay. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports.

We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shoutouts to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good. Her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports.

Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone. Watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made.

And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysler, the main. himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song. Well, I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia.

A.O. Rewatch on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier. And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. Do you know I just found out who Sidney was? If he got a bunch of women,

then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey guys, Saga and Crystal here. Independent media just played a truly massive role

in this election, and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show. This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else. So if that is something that's important to you, please go to breakingpoints.com, become a member today, and you'll get access to our full shows, unedited, ad-free, and all put together for you every morning in your inbox. We need your help to build the future of independent news media, and we hope to see you at breaking points.com. We have an update in the Is He Dead or Alive Saga that is Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Let's put this up on the screen. So allegedly, he has now been discharged from that rehabilitation center in a hospital here in Washington, D.C.

This has been a nearly eight-week medical absence, all caused by what him and his office are claiming was a minor fall with no significant injuries. And yet here we are two months. later, having only received two still images that could easily be AI. I'm not saying they are AI, but they easily could be AI. No video, no audio, no nothing. And now with no actual sightings of him, he has allegedly been moved from this hospital rehab center in D.C. to his home in Kentucky. He said in a statement, on the advice of my doctors, I'll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period. I'll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business. A spokesman did not say whether

the senator would return to the Senate within chamber, which is scheduled to begin a five-week break, starting Monday, returns to session in September. That absence began in June when he was hospitalized after falling unconscious at his home. In July, he broke a long silence, saying he had suffered from a fall in a mild case of pneumonia and had since been transferred to a rehab center to continue his recovery. Let's put D2 up on the screen. Here was the original statement from the office of the attending physician, just so you can recall what we were told happened two months ago, and yet he still is not being seen in public whatsoever. Senator McConnell experienced several falls throughout the year that had been attributed to his post-polio condition. He was admitted

to the hospital four weeks ago after falling at home and sustaining minor injuries. A comprehensive evaluation by a multidisciplinary team determined he had no fractures, no cardiac abnormality, stroke, tumor, or hemorrhage, which is different, by the way, than what was reported in that 911 call from his home. Early in his hospitalization, he developed pneumonia, which responded rapidly to antibiotic treatment. The remainder of his hospital state focused on physical therapy, strategies to reduce his risk of future falls. He's been medically clear to continue fully participating in his intensive physical therapy program. We've got some eagel reporters outside of McConnell's home in Louisville, Kentucky that spotted some medical devices there.

Let's go ahead and take a look at this. You know about Mitch McConnell or his... So what you can see there in those boxes is some sort of a device that is intended to help lift elderly people from their recliner chairs. So indicating apparently that he is unable to easily at least stand up from just a seated position. Shout out to these charles, man. I love these people. This is old school. This is the real stuff.

We're zooming in. We're taking pictures of lifts. We're covering the right stories. Seriously, nobody else is going to do it. It's easy to go up on Capitol Hill and shove your phone in a live senator's space. But to actually see what's going on with these people that, you know, there's very few who are actually on the beat. And I do want to emphasize part of the reason is that on Capitol Hill, speaking the way you and I are in is stay Class A. It's uncomfortable. The staffers will freeze you out. McConnell's staff,

they're all over the building. They can still be like, oh, I can't believe he would be so disrespectful to the former Senate majority of the, so that's why it's really only independent journalists that are really hammering this story and are asking it in a very difficult way. Like, is he able to climb the stairs? Yes or no. Why is CNN or all these other people? They have all the money in the world. They can do it if they wanted to, but they're not, right? And I think that's very important. You also saw that a lot of their staff are now, again, being chased down by some of these independent journalists. One of them here, Nicholas Ballasi, I want to make sure I give him credit, has been following around the McConnell Chief of Staff, just being like, hey, how's your boss?

Let's take a listen. I read that McConnell's been discharged. Are you guys going to release a video of him, though, just to kind of quell any of the speculation or any of the rumors online? you probably read everything that's going on to just wonder what you're going to do next. You never see that on the hill. It's like unspoken.

You're not supposed to make the staff the story. Why not? As he points out, the man makes $226,000 a year and won't say why McConnell has not really so short video of his absence. Passes some seven weeks on Capitol Hill.

It's nuts. Also, this is not even a job that you can work from home. We were trying to figure this out yesterday. McConnell tried to vote, which is insane, in this Senate agricultural committee, I believe, by proxy. So he tried to get one of his elderly buddies in the Senate to vote for him by proxy.

It turns out that in that specific Senate committee, you're not allowed to vote by proxy, so his vote didn't count. But who is making that call? Like remember Diane Feinstein when, what was, Amy Klobuchar leans over and is like, just vote yes? I mean, is that what's happening, right? Like, is he all there? There's been no video of him talking, of him walking, of his. estimate of coming home, he spent two months in the hospital. I mean, you and I both know the hospital, the last thing they don't want you there. They want to kick your ass out so they can get

somebody else in there. Now he's got home health care aids who are at home lift devices. Look, he's a very, very rich man because of his wife, who's, you know, like a half a billionaire or something. So I'm not saying he's like not getting good care at home, but it's obvious now with the machines and being, you know, where he is. He's been missing now for quite some time. If he was able to talk, they would release a video. Of course. They have to at this point. And it's like, they still won't do it.

That's what's so crazy about it. The lift chair and we're going to show you home health aid have convinced me he is a lot. No, he's alive. I'm convinced of that, much at least. But I'm also convinced that he's in very poor condition because there was no, they smuggled him out of this hospital, presumably in the dead of night. There were no photos of him being discharged because you've had reporters there, very few from the mainstream outlets. But, you know, Desiree, who we had on the show, there's a handful that I have. are like staking out the hospital to try to catch any potential movements.

So they waited until the time then there was nobody there. They ushered him out. I assume they took him because there were no sightings of him at either, you know, the D.C. airport or at the Louisville, Kentucky airport, which is not all that large. Someone would have spotted him. He is obviously very famous individual, well-known, very easily recognized, et cetera. So presumably he probably took a private jet to get home to escape any kind of scrutiny, which, again, if he's in great condition and he's having 20 minutes,

phone conversations and sharp as attack and better than ever and just had a little fall, don't worry about it, you would want to release some video evidence. You wouldn't be afraid of cameras catching you as you're going to the airport to continue recovery at home, et cetera. So I think he's alive, but he's in very, very bad condition because that's the only thing that explains the complete cover up of any sort of visual or audio evidence of him being in sound, mind, and body. And with the Senate so closely divided, obviously his vote, makes a big difference on a lot of different things. You, Todd Blanche was confirmed over the weekend

because they were able to get basically all of the Republicans, say, for a couple in line. Cassidy, who was very reluctant, embarrassing that he ends up caving to Trump after Trump, you know, did all sorts of things to make sure that he was defeated in his primary. But in any case, they narrowly got that over the finish line.

But there's a whole host of issues like that that could literally come down to McConnell's vote. Are they going to figure out how to have him? Vote by proxy? while we have no idea whether he even knows that votes are going on or that he's a United States senator

or what day of the week it is. It's so completely insane. Put D6 up on the screen. This is the, again, Nicholas Ballesey tweeted this out. I like that his last name is almost balzy. This is a home health care aide who was coming and going from McConnell's residence. You can see this is her leaving.

She's hurrying, you know, not answering any questions. into a waiting car so that she can get away. What's interesting is there's another video of her when she's coming in. She's very chatty. She doesn't give away any information that's particularly relevant, but she's engaging with the reporter very friendly. And then this, I think, is the attending physician.

Who is also leaving and also completely stonewalling, won't answer any questions, et cetera. So in any case, that's what we've got. And it's a story about this man who's incredibly important and powerful. It's also a story about the complete lack of curiosity and media interest from the national media, which to me is astonishing. It's a story of the fact that you have this tight-knit club here in D.C. that encompasses both Democrats and Republicans, because I guarantee you, there are a lot of people in this town who know exactly what is going on. Some of them in the press corps, by the way, who are saying absolutely nothing. And, of course, it's a story about an aging, declining empire ruled by a bunch of.

bunch of geriatrics, some of whom don't even know, you know, what time it is, what day it is, and that they're even United States senators anymore. Yeah, 100%. Did we play the John Thune clip? Because that one is very importantly. Yeah, let's take a listen here. John Thune, who is the Senate Majority Leader, they said, have you been able to visit him? Like, have you talked to him? Do you know anything about when he's going to be back? Nothing. Take a listen. Mr. Leader, do you want to see Mitch McConnell put out a video of some sort? What's that? Put out a video, Mr. McConnell?

Has he? Has he? Well, I think that's up to me. Sir, so do you think McConnell needs to put out some sort of video to show this condition to the public, McConnell? Oh, again, that's a decision between him and his staff. Have you visited him in the hospital? Senator, have you been able to visit McConnell in the hospital? What's that?

Have you able to visit him in the hospital? I have not, no. You have any update on his condition? Do you think he's going to be back? You're going to give him an ultimatum to come back to vote since you have a slim majority? Look at that. He's got nothing to say. It's so crazy.

It's absolutely nuts, in my opinion. Like, you have the Senate Majority Leader, haven't visited him in the hospital, and he goes, oh. Yeah. When he figures out what he's being questioned. Right. He's like, oh. Shocked, stunned, uncomfortable. Like locks up.

And also, like, we're not aware of any of these people visiting him. No. Which is interesting, you know. We're all super rich. They got PJs. They can fly around. He could be there in and out and an hour or so. Plus, he's been in D.C.

the whole time up until just now when he got moved to Kentucky again in the dead of night. So number one, they must not care about him. Because he must not really like him as a human being. Because someone you know, you go visit him in the hospital. But, yeah, number two, they're worried about being. spotted and then have a face questions, et cetera. So they've all just stayed away. The only person we know of who's gone to visit him is his own wife, who when he initially fell ill and was in the hospital. First thing she did was fly to China. So, I mean, it's the most inspiring love story at all time. It really is. It's exactly what you want. You can see the way his friends and family loved ones are really coming through for him. When you get married, you're just like, you know what I want whenever I'm deathly ill is for you to fly the halfway across the world to conduct a routine business meeting with the vice premier of China. One of us can only hope. for that type of relationship. But I think, see, I think it's not that they don't like him.

It's if you see him, then you have to say what his condition is. So it's easier to just say, oh, I have no idea. I haven't talked to him. His wife says he's fine, you know? It's one of those where you don't check up because if you know the answer, people would know because they're reporters that some people who are staked out if you visit it. If you visited, you could say, can he talk? What's his condition?

How's he look? By the way, John Thune is lying. He knows what the condition is because it's his job to know. Because he's the majority. He has to know who, where am I getting the votes from? For whatever agenda items, whatever things need to pass, the Save Act, whatever their priorities are, you have to know, are my senators alive or dead? Are they capable of being here in person to cast a vote?

So he's 100% lying when he says he has no idea about his condition and really has nothing to offer. He does know. Now he, I think probably is honest about not visiting him in the hospital because of the political, peril that would require, et cetera. But he definitely has he's spoken with the wipe. He knows what the true condition is. He just doesn't want to say and is participating in this cover up. Here's the thing. We have got a full month till we find out even more because sentence out, August recess is here. They're not back until September 14th. Right. So literally 33, or 34 days away from today. So he's got 34 days to rehab at home before maybe he'll show up.

minor, no big deal fault. But that's the thing is that August recess could not have come soon enough for him because now he doesn't need to be in the chamber and there's no vote. So it's one of those where I think, I honestly, I would hope that at least some decision has to come to a point back in September because at that point, I mean, we're talking about total insanity. I guess they could just continue to weekend in Bernice this thing from September because he's not running for reelection and just let him, you know, go off into the sunset.

We'll just have no idea. Here's the other thing. Andy Bashir really, Governor of Kentucky. step up to the plate, bro. I mean, you had two entities, according to a podcast appearance, that told you this man was dead. And there's no sign of life. He's provided you as governor of the state with no evidence that he is of sound mind and body whatsoever. So fill the seat and then take it and then let it be challenged in court and have a discovery process. Like just move forward. Say, okay, this man is no longer able to serve. I'm filling the seat. And then let the courts challenge it and fight it out.

And that way at least you're going to, number one, look like you're doing something, you care, and you're a fighter. And number two, have some ability to force transparency because otherwise this game is just going to continue indefinitely. You're talking about the politics of it. I talked about this during Feinstein. It would always just enrage me. Like, I'm sorry, there are 4.6 million people who live in Kentucky. Like, you deserve some sort of representation. Senators, you'll just sit around doing nothing.

Like, if you've got, if you're a veteran, you've got a problem with your VA benefits, the easiest way to get something done is have a United States, especially a powerful United States senator, call on your behalf. like, that's a big deal. And they did not vote for that staffer who is now doing presumably everything for this office. And Mitch McConnell is not just any old senator. He is one of the most senior powerful members of the Senate with all sorts of seniority and what that entails. So, yeah, for now, they just only have Rand Paul as their only representation. They're missing in action one of their senators.

And yeah, that is not right. It's not right. When you have a real senator who can actually make stuff happen for you, I've seen it, you know, up close. you are a powerful constituent, it shouldn't always be this way, but if you're a company or something like that, you can usually get your senator on the phone and they can get stuff moving. And that stuff, you know, matters if you have a tax problem, VA benefits for a lot of your stuff. Of course he is. The way that these guys who are very unpopular always get themselves reelected is they entrenched themselves with the business community and they're lean heavily into constituent services. But when you're

gone and you literally, you know, maybe you're unable to completely speak, you can't do that. So that's the part that bugs me more than anything is I just know there's four and a half million people out there without the representation that they deserve in the United States Senate. It's bullshit. It's just we all just sit around and we're like, oh, okay. You know, like Diane Feinstein, who represented the most populous state in the union and nobody ever said a single word about it. It's insanity. Total democracy failure. Total democracy failure. This should not be allowed to persist.

There have to be some sort of competency requirements, requirements to take questions, be it at town halls, disclose what you're true. condition is. Like, this is insanity. Can't continue. All right, let's get to Michigan. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Do we want to jump right in?

Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish right inside the free IHard radio app. Make some noise. Wooee! Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like Bestie Listen. Hey Jonas and Las Cultureistas. Now with full video. I'll just leave that there.

It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing right on your screen. Open the free IHard Radio app Search video podcasts And tap watch What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers Hey what's up y'all

It's your girl Sam J And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports A new podcast from Together And IHart Women's Sports Because let's be real Women's Sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days So Kelsey Finler

She became the first female solo rower To go from California to Hawaii My first thought is like What's up with the snacks? Like what are we? What are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week.

Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka, showing out, she beat. Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it.

Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us, or rather, you know them. Tony and Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, the chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years,

but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO, rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, Revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea?

We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysler, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody.

Well, I thought he was going to write. I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So in the wake of his victory in the Democratic primary in Michigan, Hillary Clinton has emerged to give Abdul Al-Sai and some advice about how to win the state. Let's take a listen. You're not going to convince Republican voters in Michigan.

And the real fight will be how do we make sure that people who voted for Haley feel comfortable. voting for Abdul al-Said and how do we get independence to feel comfortable? And you can see that it's not just about Michigan, but the Republican messaging is communist, socialist. It's going to be a very effective attack. And so people on the left have to be prepared to answer that and to be effective at answering it. Do you think communist is an effective attack in 2006?

Well, all I know is that's the attack that Trump is leading with, and I assume they've tested it, and I assume that they have reason to believe that it's effective or they wouldn't be beating the drum on it, because now it's not just him. Vance has done it. Others are doing it. They are trying to, you know, bring back scare tactics about our candidates. And, you know, it didn't work in New York. Mamdani was elected, and there was a lot of money spent against him. When you have an effective candidate on the life, it still is going to be a close race. I love Sagra, even the concept of asking Hillary Clinton, who very, very, very famously lost Michigan twice.

Literally. It's in a shock upside to Bernie Sanders in the primary. Two shock upsets. And then shock upset to Donald Trump in the general election, what the best course of action is to win in the state of Michigan. I'm like, I feel like taking crazy, Phil. The only Democrats since, what is it, 1988? No, I'm thinking Wisconsin.

I might have been longer than that. that when somebody who would won Michigan? What is going to lose Michigan, which was considered... The Blue Wall. If you're young and you weren't there, that was the most... Everyone knew, you know, Pennsylvania has always kind of been, the Blue Wall famously. Pennsylvania was always a toss-up. Always has been, like, in my lifetime.

But, you know, Wisconsin and Michigan, especially Michigan, which I believe Trump only won by, like, 10,000 votes in 2016. That was the shock of all shocks on. election night. And so, yeah, I remember when she lost to Bernie, everyone was like, oh, it's, you know, whatever. It's like, you know, it's like, it's a shock thing. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, the Democratic voters, it was inconceivable that this woman would lose Michigan, except to like, Debbie Dindgel or whatever, who was like, I don't know, I'm a little worried about this. Yeah, I mean, that's just what to me is like, this is the problem with our media, the way that we

venerate these types of politicians, and then we're about to just talk about Obama. But, you know, Hillary just said something there. where she said, it's impossible to win Republicans. I completely disagree with that. Wall Street Journal has a story out this morning that you have, Republican Party is losing its edge with voters on the economy. In the first term, Trump's net approval

of handling on the economy at its absolute low point was minus three. Today, it sits around minus 40. So we are talking about a 40% delta to the first term, which, as you know, the first term, it wasn't popular, But a lot of people had the, you know, I mean, you remember this. And under Biden, all the boomer Republicans had the Joe Biden.

I did that stickers with gas and sure could use some mean tweets right now. This was like the, if you have a boomer grandpa who's a Republican, like he almost certainly had that bumper sticker. I don't see the bumper sticker around anymore. Oh, you know, I don't see anybody putting that type of cope anymore. So sure, you've got a few Fox News, boomers and others who were on board. But, I mean, I looked at the data in Michigan. You got a lot of young people.

And you got to also, you know, one thing she's also, again, wrong about is just about Haley Stevens. No, the reason why Trump won Michigan and Slotkin also won is there was a literal crossover vote of people who, by definition, voted Republican for Donald Trump and did not vote for a list or and voted also for Slotkin. Over Mike Rogers. Over Mike Rogers. Right. So it's like that person exists right now. Of course you can win them over. Trump won a lot of people who voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

That is exactly how you win an election, especially in a battleground state like this. That's what Abdel should – that's what any candidate should be doing, frankly, is you have to win crossover vote. I mean, think about what a powerful lane he can occupy and is occupying. You can oppose data centers, oppose the war, and run on the economy and affordability. Those are – on all of those issues, you're going to find a lot of discontent with, yes, some Republican voters who had voted for Trump. I mean, we talked about the Trump-Mam-Dani voters. Like, this is a thing. And I'm not saying you're going to win them all over.

But certainly the sort of like independent Republican voters, some of the people who aren't absolute partisan diehards. But I do think you're right to sort of hone in on that comment from her because to me it's very emblematic of typical democratic elite thinking. And how she lost in the first place. That's right. And where they just, they assume that certain groups are with them when you shouldn't, right? They assumed, oh, Latinos will be with us, period.

End of story. We don't really need to do anything. They assumed that, you know, basically 100% of black voters would be with them forever. Wrong. They assumed young voters, you know, and young men would be with them forever. And so there are these assumptions that certain groups will lockstep stay with them that are not true. And there's also an assumption on the other side that you can't then win back. Once the state is gone, it's gone.

Iowa, it's just gone. Ohio, we just can't win it anymore. It's over. End of story. When my experience has been, I think all of our experiences have been over the past several elections, you actually have a broader swing electorate than has been portrayed. And again, partisanship does run deep. You have some people who are very locked in and there's nothing you can do.

And the only question is whether they're going to show up or not. But there is actually a large demographic that is open in a moment of incredible tumble and change like this. So I think that's a really important point. And I do think that Abdul has positioned himself smartly. You know, the other thing on the communist point, I'm not going to say that attack doesn't have any. power behind it and that there isn't a reason why they're leaning into this. It's also the same attack that they use in literally every election, no matter who is right. And they said the same thing about Obama and about Biden and so about Hillary. And they're saying it again. Again, I think it has

some impacts. But at a time when Trump is like taking stakes in a lot of companies and what used to be verboten in American political discourse has been brought into the mainstream, I think they're going to have to do better than just he's a scary commie in order to be Abdul and other capable candidates like him. Like with Trump and the dictatorial fascism stuff didn't land in 24, you know, maybe land now at the time it didn't land. And look, obviously that was a failure in messaging. And at the end of the day, most people either voted with a wallet or whenever it came to immigration in order to, they were like, look, maybe, but we're going to roll the dice. That's how people will feel whenever it comes to the communist and the socialist attack. You've also

got Obama out here, our favorite E2 up here on the screen, Obama reached out to both Senate candidates in Michigan. The emphasis in his calls was unifying Democrats after a difficult primary. And so, I don't know. I never know what to make of this, you know, the vaunted Obama from on high coming down and putting his blessing upon these two candidates. But it always seems to be in such a way where he's trying to, he's trying to recreate the same thing he did in his presidency, where he came in. and even though he had no reason to do so, decided to give a huge amount of power

to these like Bill Clinton and I, he literally hired Hillary as the Secretary of State. He always is trying to push these more insurgent candidates who, again, follow some of the playbook that he laid out to do the same thing, even though his strategy was a total and a complete failure. I'm not saying Abdul Al-Sai doesn't necessarily have to reach out to Haley Stevens voters, but, you know,

Haley Stevens herself endorsed him and is like, look, I'm all in behind it. Yeah, what else... You've been very gracious. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's kind of admirable, to be honest. It is, absolutely. It's like, you know, you very rarely see it in politics today. But what I found here in this like warm and encouraging discussion to unite Democrats to win Michigan in November,

is there always trying to like tamp down the reason why he won in the first place? That's kind of how I look at it. I mean, I will just say, look, as much as I have plenty of complaints about the Obama era, he is one of, he is the most popular politician in America. Sure. That is reality. Shouldn't be that one. And Abdul. needs to earn trust with especially older black voters in Michigan and make sure they are turning

out in numbers that, you know, that are going to be important to get him across the finish line. And there was a, you know, a smear campaign that was run to convince them that he hates Michelle Obama and he's sexist and all these sorts of things and that Obama endorsed Taylor Stevens. So if Obama does decide to actually get involved in this race and campaign for Abdul, I do think that that will be an important marker. I think the sort of fake Obama endorsement of Haley Stevens is a big part of the reason why she was able to make it as close as she ultimately was able to make it. And then also these ads that were running suggesting, again, that Abdul hates Michelle Obama and is sexist against her or whatever. So I think we have to keep that in mind.

Kamala endorsed him as well. I think this also, you know, again, as much as we have a critique here, it is undeniably the fact put E3 up on the screen is undeniably the case that many black voters. have very warm sentiments towards her and favorable opinion of her. I've seen, I don't know, Saga, you probably didn't see this. There's all kinds of lefties that were like mad about him accepting her endorsement. I'm like, do you want to win or not? It's not like he abandoned his principles to come to her. She came to him.

He's not endorsing her, although he did vote for her, but he's not endorsing her. She is coming to him. I mean, this is addition, right? You need to make sure that you got the entire Democratic base behind him. all of that, and then appeal to the winnable independence, the winnable Republicans, based on what is a very strong populist message. So I think obviously he's going to accept Kamala Harris's endorsement. It would be so, can you imagine if he rejected her endorsement? The chill that would put into, like, the black voters who were skeptical of him in Detroit and went for Haley Stevens, et cetera,

that would be political suicide to do something like that. Sorry, left toys, you're retarded. Okay, I can say that again now. It's 20. There is a fact that just doesn't want to win. You know, like, we have to live in political reality here. It's like being a Republican who doesn't want Trump's endorsements. Like, yeah, good luck. That's like shooting yourself in the heart. Do you want to win or not?

I mean, yeah, I don't know. That's, that is beyond stupid. But the bigger question, actually, is whether he's going to win. That's honestly the more interesting question. I probably would bet on him right now. Just because the national climate. He's also, I mean, he is a talented candidate. I think people are seeing that he's very quick.

He's very confident. he's very forceful. And he has, this is another thing that some leftists were mad at. He called himself a capitalist. I don't care what he calls himself. Look, the reality is that, yes, if you poll the general population, socialism is still unpopular. He's running in Michigan and he's trying to win. He's not compromising on his principles.

But if he's going to compromise on like the label he calls himself, I don't know why we would complain about that. First of all, obvious. Again, this is y'all just too much Twitter brains. I'm like, get over it, people. Like, do you want to win or not? But beyond that, yeah, sure, don't listen to me. You don't have to. But my bigger point for Abdul and why I think I would probably would bet on him is if

Alyssa Slotkin, who I sat across from, is frankly one of the most unimpressive politicians I've ever met. Sorry, Alyssa, it's true. Just in terms of your ability to communicate. If that lady can beat Mike Rogers in a wave red election, I'm sorry. Like, how exactly is Mike supposed to win? Yeah. Especially with the national mood to use the Hillary.

example, if Mike Rogers can't win with the back of these young voters, these uncommitted voters, all these people who are either not voting for Trump or depressing the vote for the number, if she can win in that environment, how the fuck is she supposed to, is he supposed to win whenever you've got a bunch of disaffected Republicans who are not coming to vote, period. I mean, look, it's fine to get to get the people to vote when they're scared, but it's just not really how it works. Like, you know, you've got to have something positive. That's largely why Abdul, again, in my camp,

in my opinion, his campaign is very intelligent, is it's a hopeful campaign. It's a very Zoron-esque, like, look, we're fighting against, oh, you know, whatever, fascism, et cetera. But we're also doing health care. We're talking about affordability. We're talking about spending more money here than overseas. What is Mike Rogers running on? Yeah. Abdul is a bad?

I mean, it's just not enough. Like, I've seen this story too many times in politics. It can work. Don't get me wrong. The Trump 2020 campaign was the closest that it ever came actually to working, which is basically like Joe Biden is a tool of, you know, defund the police. And he still lost at the end of the day. So that shows that even with, you know, you had the most intense culture war since the 1960s.

True. And you still weren't able to win the election. Just with that. How are you going to win today with the economy where it is? That's a great, that's a really great point. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Do we want to jump right in?

Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish right inside the free IHare Radio app. Make some noise. Wooee! Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like Bestie Listen, Hey Jonas, and Las Culturistas. Now with full video. I'll just leave that there.

It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing right on your screen. Open the free IHart Radio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all?

It's your girl, Sam Jay. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and IHart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week.

Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat. Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened.

We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us or rather you know them.

Tony and Candace, Nina and Lance, Spike and yes, the chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the year. but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made?

Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life, guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chryssel, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. I thought he was going to write.

I thought you're all going to write a song for you. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo, rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I mean, they're just leaning into like, oh my God, he's a Muslim, scary. Did you know his full name is Abdul Rahman Muhammad al-Sayed? And so Abdul responded to that. And then Trump had also put out this post that showed like him and Melania in formal wear. And then Abdul and his wife who's wearing a hijab at like a diner and said

something like two different Americas. And of course, again, I'll have Abdul-Rahman El-Said. So he responded to both of those things, one at the unity rally that they held held in Michigan. The other one was on a Sunday show. Let's go ahead and take a listen to how he's tackling those. Speaking of President Trump, last night he posted on social media a photograph of him and First Lady Melania Trump in formal attire next to a photograph of you and your wife. You appear to be in a restaurant booth or something. Your wife is a psychiatrist. She's wearing a hijab. The caption was two very different Americas. What was your response when you saw that? Yeah, he's right. One in which your overlords are two people who don't like each other but joint in the interest. of making billions of dollars off of you, or two people who genuinely love each other enjoyed some pancakes together, want to come together to build the kind of America

where they can raise a family and know that that family is going to have the good thing. So yes, you've got two different visions of America. Donald Trump's vision is the one you're living in right now. Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries? Do you believe, when you look your kids in the eye that they're going to have a better future than you did?

And Sara and I are running because when we look our daughters in the eye, Amelianzirin, we want them to believe that they're every big, as able to have a better future than the one that they could have had under the Trump administration, that they can live together with their sisters and their brothers in America in a way where they lock arms to build the good things that they deserve together, where they know they'll have the health care that they need and good jobs and that they don't have to go 15 minutes and know

that there are kids who live 15 minutes away whose lives are very, very different than theirs because we've been for far too long okay with a level of inequality in this country. I want them to live in America where they can breathe clean air and drink clean water. And actually, Saur and I like each other. I don't know about the First Lady and the President, but from what I've heard, it's a bit of a rocky road. Abdul God, Donald Trump seems to think you're a gift to the Republican Party. What do you say to that? I'm a gift to the state of Michigan, God willing, and hope to win this election.

And he says, if you pardon the language, you're full of shth, what do you say to that? At least I don't let mine go in the middle of the Oval Office. Very Zoron-like ability there with the Donald Trump attack to immediately turn it to, yeah, you're right, two visions of America, one that's for the oligarchs. You know, do you like this vision of America that you're living in right now? Or are we going to try to make things more affordable and go a different way? Immediately back to, you know, not doing the like, oh, my God, that's so racist and it's not fair and making it about him.

Instead, he immediately turns it to his core campaign message. Well, in the words of a very successful politician, who I remember covering a lot, not me, us, right? It's a common slogan, look, they're going to try. Maybe it's just me. I don't think that this type of stuff is going to work all that well. in Michigan, especially when you have one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. That's where I'm like, look, maybe in Maine, maybe in, you know, like a super white lily state.

But here, like in Michigan, where, you know, Trump actually courted a significant part of the Muslim vote. I mean, his own people, remember the Hamatrack mayor and other endorsing Trump? Look, I've talked to some of the people on the Trump campaign. They acknowledge that the Kamala, Gaza, and the no wars in the Middle East was the only reason that they won that state. They know it for sure. And people like Grinnell and a few others who were on the ground were instrumental in getting the Hammettrak mayor and a lot of the other Muslim community leaders to outright endorse Trump over Kamala at that time. That's why when I see this type of stuff, I'm like, look, I mean, why do you think Rogers lost? He wasn't willing to do it.

If you, if Kamala had won the Arab American vote at the levels that Abdul won in the primary, she would have won the state. Yeah. I crunch the numbers. And we were talking about who was Hillary earlier. if the same amount of blacks vote into city of Detroit in 2016 that they did for Obama, she wins the election. But she took blacks for granted, and that's why she lost. Yeah, that's right.

So Mike Rogers is doing this whole, like, oh, he's the moral centrist now, and he's reaching out to disaffected Democrats who think Abdul is too extreme. He recorded this video with his wife. This is clearly going to be sort of a core strategy for them. Let's take a listen. If you're among the majority of Democratic voters

that woke up on Wednesday feeling, well, hopeless because the person who won does not represent your values. Well, just no. There is still hope. Michigan deserves a senator who is ready to sit with you, hear from you, and represent you. The parents across Michigan who want an education system that sets up their kids for success. You have a home with us. To grandparents across Michigan who are heartbroken from watching their kids and grandkids leave the state. You have a home with us. To young people who are looking for real solutions to solve our housing affordability crisis. You have a home with us. To working families who don't want higher taxes and lower paychecks, well, you have a home with us. And to the

vast majority of people across Michigan who do not want to throw their support behind a campaign filled with anger, divisiveness, calls for violence, and the views that are out of touch with your values, well, you have a home with us. The fight is far greater than just left versus right. The fight is for the very soul of our nation. Over the next 90 days, I'm going to work hard to earn your trust, to earn your support, and earn your vote. We have a state to save Michigan. Let's get to work.

This actually feels like a Hillary Clinton ad from 2016, right? Yeah, and I look at the data. So the data actually tells us, because it feels like this is like country club reach out, right? And that's actually kind of what happened. So if you look at the data, who voted for Abdul El-Sayyad, who voted for, Haley Stevens. People who voted for Haley Stevens are predominantly people who are either much wealthier or make over a few hundred thousand dollars a year or are traditional black Democrats in the state who are kind of convinced by the Obama, like the Obama fake ad campaign by APEC and its allies.

The people who voted for Abdul predominantly much more college educated white, I mean it's kind of the traditional DSA, downwardly mobile, college educated coalition. Okay. But what you can see with Rogers is he's still trying to get some of those people who are distaste, like they find Trump distasteful, but they find, you know, higher taxes a lot more. Yeah. So he wants those voters to kind of come into it actually doesn't make sense. But again,

coalitionally, I do think he's going to have a much more difficult time. That's what, that's, by the way, another reason why they're going to hammer this Israel thing until the kingdom come, not just for the money that it comes over, but they want to strip away any of the traditional Jewish Democratic vote, who normally two-thirds of Jews vote. Dems. So they want all those people

to come over to Rogers, kind of been an interesting sigh out, but a lot of it is going to be, a lot of it will come down to this education where the Republicans need high, low. They need the educated rich, and they also need the uneducated, but they also want, like, the more working class white to be with them. The DSA and Abdul-type candidate is going to need the downerily mobile white college-educated Democrat, and they need those traditional black Democrats and other parts of that coalition to come in for them, which is, why, you know, his strategy with Obama makes total sense because those people revere Obama. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, here's the thing. At the end of the day, I think there's a lot of delusion

among the Republicans that because the primary was close, that means there's a lot of dissatisfaction with Abdul as the nominee. And I think just from all of the rallying around him, you've got Pete coming in, you got Kamala, they did this unity rally. Haley Stevens been very gracious. I think you can already see that that was a delusion. Democrats, whether they love Abdul or whether they got some issues and concerns, they are very united in not handing Trump more power. And Mike Rogers at the end of the day is, number one, an unconstructed neo-con who's never seen a war he didn't like, and a deep state up, by the way. And number two, a robber stamp for Trump, who, you know, started engaging after criticizing Trump after January 6th, then flipped on a dime when it was politically

useful to him and started doing the same election conspiracy bullshit that he, you know, he knew would be required to get Trump's support. This is who this guy is. Also, by the way, Abdul's made a big deal of the fact that he immediately, Mike Rogers, after he lost his last campaign, immediately moved to Florida and has now moved back to being himself as Michigan. Well, Abdul's rich too. I'm sure he is. But in any case, last piece here, you know, there was a, this is from the Unity Rally. I referenced this earlier. Rogers and others making a big deal out of like, oh my God, did you know what his real name is? Let's go ahead and take a listen to how Abdul is responding to that.

Now, Mike, I'm just going to remind you, if you don't know how to say the name, keep the name out your damn mouth or just call me Abdul. But I got some opinions about his name. See, it's very fitting for him, Rogers. Because that's his answer every time a corporation or Donald Trump tells him to do something. Mike, we need you to put a data center in the backyard. Roger. Mike, we need you to hike their prescription drug prices.

Roger Mike we need you to rubber stamp this war we shouldn't be fighting Roger Mike and this one's Donald Trump I need you to lick these boots

Roger They ate that shit up Let's call it what it is That's an Obama That is an Obama ripoff That's also code switching And I'll call it for what it Like sorry

What the fuck are we doing it? What do you mean? Come on, it's like a black cent Obama type thing This isn't how you talk No it's not I've interviewed the man many, many times. No, no, I think it's, but it does sound like Obama.

I don't just say, like, it's kind of a corny as hell line, and he kind of pulls it off. So people are, people ate it up in that room for sure. Yes, the women with, I mean, that was the quintessential Democratic woman, like 55 years old with the kooky glasses. I mean, look, I mean, no hate. You know, we're all in this country together, but sure, I'm sure she ate it up. I'm not just, to me, I found it corny as fuck. Nah, I mean, okay. He ate in that clip.

I could, I, I'm sure you think so. Didn't work for me. I think he's doing an Obama impression. Look, I put all of this aside. You have to admit, though, he is a very talented politician. I've always thought he's good. Yeah, very charismatic, very quick on his feet. That clip we played where they were like, oh, Obama says, what was it?

Something Obama says you're a piece of shit or whatever. And he was like, oh, well, at least I don't let mine go in the Oval Office. Trump says you're a piece of sure. Yeah, exactly. Sorry, sorry, Trump. I mean, to come up with that on the fly like that, To me, it's impressive. Look, he's battle tested.

He did lose previously to Gretchen Whitmer. He had some problems. I just think, this is also where the candidate thing, like I was talking about with Slokin, if Alyssa can beat my Rogers in a wave election, like, I don't even know if it matters. Like, we're talking about a few percentage points. I kind of agree with that, actually. I really believe at this point candidate quality is like a plus or minus two points. I don't really believe in it anymore whenever it comes to national elections.

we have had too much evidence whenever it comes to national, national stakes where people will put aside everything. Yeah. Whenever it means you're going to vote the right way. Like, it's just, and Democrats are pissed off. I think if you have a D-Next to your name in the state of Michigan, I think you're going to win. I kind of agree with that. I always come back to the guy who's Attorney General of Virginia, Jay Jones, who had those text messages that come out that were dev. They were like, I want to murder my opponent.

And he won. And he was children should win. And he won. People were like, but, no, he's a Democrat. And you're talking about statewide, right? You're talking about statewide where the stakes aren't, frankly, let's be honest, like not that fucking high. Yeah. We're talking about vote in the United States Senate plus or minus.

Like for most people, I'm saying this has always been the case since Tea Party, even more so today. The candidate quality, like, I just don't think it matters that much anymore. Unless you're, I don't know, who was the guy who ran in North Carolina. I don't even remember the guy's name. Roy Cooper? No, who ran against him. The preacher who had all this weird pornographic fantasies. I sort of forgot about that.

These people come and go. Roy Moore, it takes somebody like that to tank your, tank your... It matters a lot in a primary. It mattered a lot for Zoran in his primary. It goes from 1% to winning. It matter for Abdul in his primary, who is up against the whole machine, $60 million, et cetera. But I do think in a general election, you're right, that the national mood is more important than it. It matters.

It can't manage it statewide. That's actually why. I think we're going to talk about Hong tomorrow. I think Hong might be in trouble. Statewide, whenever it comes to governor. It just people vote very differently whenever it comes to... the stakes that are there. Andy Bashir, good example. Dem governor, Republican, you know, what, what do these Republicans win by whenever it comes to the nationwide election, like plus

30? Oh, in Kentucky? Yeah, it's bonkers. But then they'll vote for a Democrat. So, you know, I wouldn't underestimate that. So I actually, I'll say candidate equality matters more in a statewide election. But when it's nationwide, the stakes are just too high. When we saw Virginia and New Jersey, those were state-level elections. Good point. And both Abigail Spanberger and Mike but they were first. It was the first time you could react. Yeah. That's true. That's a point. I mean, look, it's complicated. Obviously, we'll see.

I still wouldn't bet I wouldn't say that it wouldn't hurt, like, to have a wave of Democrats in an election where everybody's just kind of voting and pissed off. It definitely wouldn't hurt to be statewide on that. But people are much more willing to go with a different party when the stakes are not high at the federal level. At the end of the day, for Abdel and or Mike Rogers, it's like, are you going to vote for Trump or not, right? Like, that's an up or down question of expression of disapproval or whatever.

Whereas with, you know, with statewide elections, it's much more complicated, like property tax, the data centers. I mean, I think it matters a ton. Don't get me wrong. But there's so much evidence now for how people vote in that way that I would just, I would want to D next to my name in any potential swing state. There's just no way around it with the data that we see right now. That's the, that's the reality.

Okay, I hope you guys enjoy the show. We're about to do our AMA. So we'll see you then. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist, Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam Jay. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together in I Heart Women's Sports.

We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shoutouts to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good. Her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports.

Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made.

And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. Are you fully improvised, not just words, but a song. Well, I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia.

A.O. Rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nick Tutero. You probably know me from NYPD Blue, the longest yard, or Spike Lease Black Klansman. And on my new podcast, delivering happiness with Nick Tatourl, I deliver pizza to a new guest. I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins. What are you doing my belt? To Bill Burr. I don't think I've ever met somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am.

And now we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Tuturo. It's called Happiness, delivering happiness. And many, many more. Open your free High Heart Radio app. Search Delivering Happiness with Nick Totoro. And listen now. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.