Lovett or Leave It - Bidentity Crisis

Episode Date: February 15, 2020

Trump is purging, Bernie is surging, Amy is emerging, Bloomberg is splurging, and Biden is... not doing so well.Larry Wilmore and Kara Brown join to cover the primary as it heads to Nevada and South Carolina. Up and coming journalist Ronan Farrow stops by to discuss revelations in his podcast AND relationship. Plus similarities between Nixon and Trump, life on a coronavirus cruise, and the power of Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union's example. What a week.

Good evening, Los Angeles. Look at all of your bright, shimmering faces. Nice to get together after a state could count votes, you know? Little housekeeping. Pod Save America and Love It or Leave It are going on tour. We're heading to Spokane, Birmingham, Seattle, Portland, and many more. Check out our tour dates and get your tickets now at crooked.com slash events. Also, to beat Donald Trump in 2020, we need to organize volunteers and get out the vote in communities across the country.

Every day we're not doing that is a day that we're falling behind. Lucky for us, there are groups on the ground who have gotten started, but they need our help as we're fighting out this primary. That's why we've launched our Leave It All on the Field Fund, a sports term, to support groups who are building their 2020 ground game right now. We're starting with Organizing Corps 2020, a project from the DNC that's recruiting, trading, and paying 1,000 organizers ahead of the general election in eight battleground states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, Minnesota, Georgia, and Florida. Help them get the job done. It can't just be Bloomberg as the only person offering people jobs. Go to votesaveamerica.com slash

field. All right, let's get into it. What slash field. All right. Let's get into it. What a week. Trump is purging. Bernie is surging. Amy is emerging. Bloomberg is splurging. And Biden is hemorrhaging.

On Tuesday, New Hampshire voters went to the polls and in the privacy of voting booths cast ballots for their preferred candidates and then each polling place reported the total number of votes each candidate received at that location. And all those votes were added together until all the votes were counted

and the total number of votes each candidate received determined the winner by seeing who had the most votes. The winner of the New Hampshire primary was Vermont's Bernie Sanders, who has gained popularity by declaring war on the two most hated things on the planet, unchecked corporate power and small talk. And this is a movement from coast to coast

which is demanding that we finally have an economy and a government that works for all of us, not wealthy campaign contributors. Close behind Bernie Sanders was Mayor Pete Buttigieg. In this election season, we have been told by some that you must either be for a revolution or you are for the status quo. But where does that leave the rest of us? Most Americans don't see where they fit in that polarized vision. And we can't defeat the most divisive president in modern American history by tearing down anybody who doesn't agree with us 100% of the time. I know I make jokes about Mayor Pete, but I'm going to pause here and say

I think it is a testament to just how serious Mayor Pete is as a person and how methodical he is as a candidate that we often overlook how amazing it is that an openly gay small-town mayor born in 1954 pretending to be born in 1982 is doing so well in this primary. Mayor Pete threw the first brick at Stonewall. in this primary. Mayor Pete threw the first brick at Stonewall. Mayor Pete founded the Mattachine Society. Mayor Pete marched on the White House with Frank Kameny.

1965, and nobody's talking about it. Those are some deep cuts for the gay rights enthusiasts in the audience. And then, right on Pete's tail, revving her engines and throwing staff out of her moving car to cut weight, like a Morton Joe chasing Charlize Theron in Mad Max was Amy Klobuchar.

She capitalized among late deciders after a great debate performance. No one has more passionately connected her moving personal story to her belief in pragmatism and consensus than Amy Klobuchar. I don't have that big bank account. I don't have that big name as some of the other people that are in this race. And I am not a newcomer with no political record. But what I do is get things done. But RIP to the staffer who played the song too early. Now, I want to thank a few people before we start the music and everything. Yikes. Mediocre. All right.

Elizabeth Warren had a rough night. She did not break 10%, but she promised to fight on and articulated a case for her unity candidacy more directly than she has before. But the fight between factions in our party has taken a sharp turn in recent weeks. But if we're going to beat Donald Trump in November, we're going to need huge turnout within our party.

And to get that turnout, we will need a nominee that the broadest coalition of our party feels like they can get behind. Counterpoint. What if, at the 1968 Democratic Convention, they had Twitter? Hashtag hot boys for McGovern. All right. I'm just going to remind everybody that I remain neutral and what I'm about to say is a joke.

Anyway, Warren's fourth place finish is obviously disappointing because she should be president Neutral Hey Okay, okay, okay Okay, okay Okay

It's a joke And finally, Joe Biden is out there Doing his thing Billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg And finally, Joe Biden is out there doing his thing. Billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and a man who got way too much confidence from wearing a leather jacket is gaining in the polls due to his carefully honed strategy of buying the election. You might say he's using his money to stop and frisk our democracy. He's apologized for his role in Stop and Frisk,

though he's continued to face criticism as video and audio emerge of his defense of the policy, along with an interview in which he claimed that ending racist redlining housing rules was a cause of the financial crisis. Unlike Mayor Bloomberg, his previous policies are casting a very long shadow.

Now you may be wondering, was that a short joke? It is. And obviously as a tall person, I'm in no position to make it. But you know, tall people, we get shit too. Everybody's asking us to take off our beefeater hats and change light bulbs and ceiling fans.

It's a burden. There's so much dust on the top of fridges and you people have no idea nobody's cleaning up there i see it all the time the tops of fridges last saturday donald trump tweeted we will not be touching your social security and medicare in fiscal 2021 budget well you may be wondering where did he get the term fiscal 2021 budget it was from the budget in which he does the opposite of what he said in that tweet he was lying the 4.8 trillion dollar budget proposal includes cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, disability benefits, and Social Security. Why would Trump lie? Because he wants to campaign like a populist

while governing like Paul Ryan, and it's all designed to confuse just enough older people to make the difference in November. That's why tonight we are launching a new segment. Hey, send a text to your parents about politics, but in a way that won't lead to anyone getting defensive Or bringing up old baggage Because no one in history has ever changed their minds

While they're angry And it's weird we still try to convince our loved ones They're wrong in the middle of a fight This is what you should text your parents Unless you don't have parents Which we are sorry about. But we're going to do it anyways because it's the premise of the bit. Awful.

Just awful. Here's how this segment will work. Each week, I will give you a draft text you could send to a parent or older or other older Trump-agnostic relative so they are armed with information wrapped in a sugar coating of love. Here is this week's text. Hey, Mom, I was thinking.

When you and Dad come visit, don't bother getting a hotel or Airbnb or anything. I think you should stay with us for the week. Have you ever tried Korean barbecue? They cook meat right on the table. You'll really like it. And Dad can get chicken because I know he's not having red meat right now because of his blood pressure.

Which reminds me, did you see this crazy thing? Trump's budget just came out, and he actually cuts Medicare even though he promised he wouldn't. What? Really crazy stuff. Alex is freaking out because you know how her mom has been having all those health problems. Anyway, I love you no matter who you and dad vote for. It's just for the text.

And don't want to have another Easter situation, but figured it would be good to have all the info. Anyway, when you're in town, what if we went to the flea market on Saturday? Just a thought. I'll call after church. Love you. And that was, hey, send a text to your parents, etc. Also this week, Trump called Roger Stone's recommended prison sentence by the DOJ a miscarriage of justice. Within hours of Trump's tweet, the DOJ walked back the recommendation. Trump also fired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and former ambassador Gordon Sondland.

I feel conflicted about the Sondland one. Obviously, it's an abuse of power. But watching somebody who donated $1 million to Trump get publicly debased by Trump is intoxicating. It's like seeing two white Porsche Cayennes get in a fender bender. Because they were both on their phones, you know? All of the prosecutors working on the case resigned in protest after Attorney General Barr intervened on behalf of the president. But keep in mind, even though the sentence was recommended to be reduced,

the DOJ is also suggesting Stone serves that time on Fox & Friends. After a number of U.S. senators began to call for his resignation, Bill Barr sat down for an interview with ABC where he said the following. For his resignation, Bill Barr sat down for an interview with ABC, where he said the following. To have public statements and tweets made about the department, about our people in the department, our men and women here, about cases pending in the department, and about judges before whom we have cases, make it impossible for me to do my job. Twitter making it impossible for you to do your job? Don't make me relate to you, you piece of shit.

I don't believe him. Also, after disappointing results in New Hampshire, three candidates dropped out of the race. Former Governor Deval Patrick, front of the show, Senator Michael Bennett, and future Commerce Secretary Andrew Yang. Yeah.

Where my Yang gang? Where's the Yang gang? Hey, you know what? We're all in the Yang gang now. Andrew Yang had zero name ID a year ago, but outlasted big names like Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and Beto O'Rourke. So before we bring out our panel, we thought tonight would be a good time to pause and reflect on those we've left behind along the way with this in memoriam. Eric Swalwell.

First act in foreign policy, we're breaking up with Russia and making up with NATO. Time to pass the torch. Mike Gravel. It's time to make some waves for change. John Hickenlooper. But how come we're not asking more often the women? Would you be willing to put a man on the ticket? Jay Inslee.

I am a politician of conviction. I voted for the assault weapon bill. I voted against the repeal of Glass-Steagall, and I think Harry Potter should be eliminated. Kirsten Gillibrand. The first thing that I'm going to do when I'm president is I'm going to Clorox the Oval Office. Seth Maltin.

I'm in this to win. That's why I'm here. Bill de Blasio. How do you feel about Ska? I love Ska. Tim Riley. I'm a Dave Matthews guy. Okay, yeah, of course you are. Beto O'Rourke.

We're going to treat each person with the respect and dignity they deserve as humans. Joe Sestak. Unfortunately, we cannot find any footage of Joe Sestak. Stephen Bullock. I'm the only one that actually won in a Trump state. The only one in the field of 37 that actually won a Trump state. I'm literally the only field in the state that won in a state where Donald Trump won. Kamala Harris.

You know, he reminds me of that guy in The Wizard of Oz. You know, when you pull back the curtain, it's a really small dude. Julian Castro. 20 seconds after I start speaking to try and explain to him what I'm about, the lights go off in the whole building. I'm like, I hope this is not a metaphor for the rest of my campaign.

That it's never going to get started. The lights go out. Marian Williamson. Her goal is to make New Zealand the place where it's the best place in the world for a child to grow up. And I will tell her girlfriend you are so on. Cory Booker. Why did Tigger and Eeyore have their heads in the toilet? They were looking for poo. I love that one. Andrew Yang. All the things we've taken for granted about capitalism are now changing and we have to evolve with the times. I'm going to be the first president to use PowerPoint in the State of the Union. How do you feel about that?

to use PowerPoint in the State of the Union. How do you feel about that? PowerPoint! PowerPoint! PowerPoint! PowerPoint! Michael Benn. Tell us about the last time you were embarrassed. I'm sure it related to my children mocking me, which is the cause of

most of my embarrassment. Duvall Patrick. Hi, everyone. When we come back, a game with Ronan Farrow. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back.

Now we have a surprise guest. He's a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, best-selling author. And last night I came home to find that he poured an acai bowl out in the sink in a way that looked like there'd been a murder. Please welcome Ronan Farrow. Hey, everyone. Now, Ronan. You look good, Jonathan. Shut up. No, I can't.

You been going to the gym, or, uh... Not now. Hi. Now, Ronan. This is the only time we get to talk Now Ronan You are here because there are many new revelations about Trump That have come to light in your podcast Catch and Kill

Based on the book by the same name Thank you Last episodes just came out Thank you guys Some Catch and Kill podcast stans Thank you But we weren't catch and kill podcast stands. Thank you. But we weren't going to allow you to come here and promote this podcast willy nilly. I figured we'd do it in the form of a game. I'm going

to ask you a series of equally important questions. Either about new facts you've uncovered about Trump or facts you should know about me. It's time to play What do you care more about? Your work or your fiance? Are you ready?

Oh boy Are you ready? No, absolutely not First question Without saying the year, what is my birthday? August 17th I think he hammed it up, he knew That's correct

Name three of the lead actors in 1600 Penn Josh Gad Andre Holland And Bill Pullman Yeah, you got it We would also have accepted Jenna Elfman I thought you were using actors Or Or Martha McIsaac. ...in a gendered way.

Oh, like you've seen 1600, Penn. Wow, hit a nerve. Hit a nerve there. Okay. All right. Good to know. Good a nerve there. Okay. All right. Good to know. Good to know where I'm at. Good to know quickly you people will just abandon me

to the first piece of meat that walks in front of you. They're on my side, Jonathan. They're on my side. You interviewed Karen McDougal on your podcast who had an affair with Donald Trump and was paid off by the Enquirer to keep it secret. What new information did she bring to light? So So one of the interesting things that comes out in today's episode is Karen McDougal now talks about this affair in a very different way than she did

when we first spoke several years ago, prior to a lot of the conversation around the Me Too movement. And, you know, she maintains this was not a Me Too moment. This was consensual. But she also makes it very clear that this was a guy hitting on her at work where she felt pressured to accept an invitation to his hotel room. She thought there was going to be a professional dinner. It was something very different from that. And she talks about just coming out of the bathroom at a certain point in dinner and he's taking his pants off and wanting to get out of there, but feeling she can't because there's bodyguards around, and it didn't feel totally safe to get out of there. So it's interesting shades in the conversation that I think she wasn't initially comfortable enough to reveal.

So there's a secret tape on the podcast of David Pecker, who runs the National Enquirer and was named aptly. What did you learn about him? We have a lot of new tape across this whole podcast, and there's large tranches of David Pecker and his second-in-command, Dylan Howard. You kind of get David Pecker's life story. Like, who is the guy that set up

the catch-and-kill empire with Trump and agreed he was going to try to swing an election? He's a bricklayer's son from the Bronx and a character with a 1950s pencil mustache and wears gold chains and stuff. And he also was covering up a lot of dark stuff for a lot of celebrities. That was his whole business model and he is upfront in these tapes about the fact that Donald Trump was a friend and he wanted to change the outcome of the election for him have you ever watched an episode of something we were watching together

without me so what you see here is that's a yes What's known in the psychiatric profession As projection Excuse me I am the interviewer now I am the investigator There was a moment Where we talked for several months About going to see Prometheus together

Because we both like cerebral sci-fi And then it came time To watch Prometheus together. We both like cerebral sci-fi. And then it came time to watch Prometheus and he said what was it? Spencer and you saw Prometheus? Before we could see Prometheus? It meant nothing to me, baby.

We can fight about this later. Caught me texting about Prometheus. What's my Starbucks order? It is several shots of espresso, several shots of sugar-free vanilla, over ice with a splash of brevet, which is the technical term at Starbucks,

for half and half. That's correct. That's correct. Based on looks alone, in a Bond movie, you would be the villain. What role am I? And you be careful because this show ends, but our night does not. Jonathan is what used to be referred to as a Bond girl.

You're Ursula Andress. That's Rush Limbaugh being like, first Pete's president, what's next? Who was Dino Sajudin and what did you learn from speaking to him? Okay, Dino Sejudin is a hell of a character and you get his life story in the podcast, in the book, Catch and Kill, you only get him slamming a door in my face, refusing to talk to me unless I pay.

But in the podcast, he warmed up a bit. And he becomes a little footnote in the history of this presidency because the National Enquirer paid him a bundle of money to shut up about a rumor that he was told by, I kid you not, Matt Calamari, Trump's longtime bodyguard. Admiral of the Resistance. Right, and he says, it's a trap. And the rumor he was told by Matt Calamari, and he passed a lie detector test about this,

was that Trump had fathered a, quote, love child with his former housekeeper. And there's a lot of reasons to believe this might not be true, or the parties involved don't even know whether it's true. That's not the point. The point is a real cover-up resulted, and one of the episodes of the podcast delves into how it played out. Correct.

Oh, and punchline in that podcast episode and in the book and the reporting I did in The New Yorker about this. So we decided to anonymize the family because the story was always about this trail of contracts and this payout which turned out to be a violation of election law and prosecutors deemed it illegal. That's real news.

Who cares about whatever children Trump may or may not have? And I wanted to respect the family's privacy as someone who knew all about intrusive press through my whole childhood. through my whole childhood. And the odd thing about this family, though, that I did disclose ultimately in the podcast is the daughter, who's now about my age, works for a genetic testing company. So that was on her mind. How do I rank the Star Wars movies?

Okay, so this is a hard question to answer because I know you're ranking prior to us attempting to re-watch Empire, but how controversial are we getting on this stage? Are we going to do this? I feel like people might set fire to this establishment. Why don't you just say my most controversial, highly ranked Star Wars film? No, I don't you just say my most controversial

highly ranked Star Wars film no I don't think so I think that it's important to disclose that John Lovett rewatched Empire recently hold on a second that is

you're about to say it's just a I reject I'm going to catch and kill this part of the podcast. I did not. And by the way, Ronan, I don't see you reaching for the remote to continue watching Empire, even though we're only 40 minutes in. I have suggested it several times. The Yoda scenes are a delight. I think the real revelation of marathoning the Star Wars movies is, you know, we owe George Lucas a little bit of an apology for the reception to Revenge of the Sith.

There's some good stuff in there. It's time we give up George Lucas the apology he deserves. If I'm stressed or having a bad day, what do I do to unwind? Do not say weed. Weed. Final question. final question what did you learn over the course of making the show that you think the audience should know you know through the book and then the show i get the question a lot like how do you maintain any hope about anything because there's a lot of dark stuff in there but here is one thing that i've learned there are times when the obstacles seem totally insurmountable

and the status quo seems totally immovable. But then all of these stories come out because over and over again, someone does something really brave. There is a source who speaks out a lot of the time in these stories, these incredibly brave women who talked about sexual violence.

There is a whistleblower who comes forward with a tape or a document and makes it possible to report on this stuff, like the guys who were spying on me who became sources in Catch and Kill. And there are damn good journalists who rally around stories instead of killing

them, like the folks at The New Yorker that I profile in the podcast. So I find it hard to be anything but optimistic, actually. I don't see any sign of those people stopping anytime soon. We'll let you go. One final question. Why do you ask waitstaff what their favorite item on the menu is if you've never once in the history of us being together for eight years ever taken the recommendation? together for eight years ever taken the recommendation.

I am very welcoming of input in all decisions that I make. Ladies and gentlemen, Ronan Farrow. Thank you guys. Thank you. When we come back, our panel. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back!

He's a writer, actor, Peabody Award winner, and host of the podcast Black on the Air. Please welcome back, returning champion, Larry Wilmore. Hi, Larry. So nice. How you doing? Good.

I'm really mad at myself. I got so many of those John Lovett questions wrong, I was like, fuck. Well, we'll have to get to know each other better. Yeah, there you go. That's how it starts. She's a writer for CW's Into the Dark. And not only is she a friend of the pod, but she's a friend of mine.

Please welcome back another returning champion, Cara Brown. John, you called me your friend publicly. We're in it now. It's happening. I thought I just said it to myself and hoped it would happen. I hope you like cheese blintzes at Cantor's.

It's too specific. That's how you know it's real. So, the first primary contests are behind us. We now head to Nevada and South Carolina, and on to Super Tuesday. Larry, start with you. How are you feeling about the state of our primary? Well, I'm still reeling from the shock

of Deval Patrick dropping out of the race. I don't know how I'm going to get my absentee ballot back at this point. I mean, you talk about, I love the memoriam because you're like, oh yeah, they were in it. Oh yeah, I forgot about them. What the fuck happened to them? But Deval Patrick was fucking brilliant. He got in at the last minute without anybody

noticing he even opened the door and then ghosted was fucking brilliant. He got in at the last minute without anybody noticing he even opened the door and then ghosted all of us before we even knew what happened. It was fucking brilliant. It was amazing. Yeah, it is like he came into a restaurant right before they closed,

sat down, they told him the kitchen was about to close, and he left without ordering. Right, exactly. No harm, no foul. It's fine. Crazy. Thanks for playing. Big respect for that. Big respect. Kara, how are you feeling?

I'm tired. I'm excited we're going to go to some states that have people with melanin. Iowa's been doing a caucus since the 1500s. It's like, how can they get that shit wrong? I mean, it's crazy, Iowa. What the fuck? It is.

I mean, on top of all the other ways in which it was dispiriting, it's also a realization that part of the reason we realize now that the Iowa caucus was all fucked up is because we tried to get transparency into the process. And it turns out, hey, spoiler alert,

1,700 volunteer precinct captains are not all a plus fucking arithmetic algebra high level matrices to break down uh math majors like what are we doing here i like the the just the process for rounding down or rounding up to the nearest delegate required i believe at least three or four years of higher level of math education. I am a math major. I publish a paper. And I don't understand the delegate math coming out of Iowa. What the fuck is a state delegate equivalent?

What is that? Equivalent to what? I honestly felt that Iowa was hoping we would all forget there even was a caucus and never even deliver the results. What caucus? There's a caucus? I've been fine with the outcome usually and then now that I really have to

pay attention, I'm like, is this how they make this decision? I'm like, oh, is this how we do this? Because I've never had to worry before and at every turn I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Is this what we do this? Because I've never had to worry before. And at every turn, I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Have we, is this, is this what we do? Well, here's the good news. Iowa went and shot itself in the foot.

Their caucus is done, and their primary will come the Wednesday after the general election from now on. They are so fucked. I don't think Iowa gets to be a state after this. We'll flip a coin to see if they can stay in the union. How about that?

We have a saying in the Democratic National Committee, let it be Canada's problem. So, Cara, to your point, we've seen Biden collapsing, Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar rising, but rising in two of the whitest states in the country. We're now heading to Nevada. We're heading to South Carolina. We're heading to Super Tuesday. We don't know exactly what's happening in terms of how much support Biden's losing.

But we do know that Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, they are desperate to prove that they can appeal to black voters in those states because otherwise there's no path to them for the nomination. How do you think it's going in their efforts? I think your Obama impression, you might want to tighten that up a little bit if you want to trick black people into thinking that it's him. Because that's what it sounds like he's doing. Like we all just will hear it, and we're like, is that Barack? Is that him? And it's not.

You know what I mean. It's like, it's crazy how, it's like every night, it's like in his ears, and he's hoping, just the repeating it, he'll get it all right. He's been practicing for a long time, you know?

Because he's, what, 60 years old? Yeah. Look, he is a baby boomer with absolutely impeccable skin. And he should be applauded for that. So, Larry,

Joe Biden decided to leave New Hampshire because he knew he was going to perform poorly there and head to South Carolina. And he made the point that 99 percent of black voters, 99 percent of Hispanic voters haven't yet had a chance to speak their mind. That's true. But then he also said his his his case for his candidacy was I have black support. Do you believe that that black support will behave differently than the... Yes, let me answer before you finish your question.

What makes him think black people want to vote for a loser? You know, I mean, what makes him think that? Seriously. Wait till the black people see me. They don't care about fifth place oh no they're just down there shucking and jiving there is this like

there is this strange way in which the black voters are discussed on television like like this unknowable this unknowable group of people that doesn't behave the black votes coming but as if black that doesn't behave. Because they don't know any black people. The black vote's coming. But as if black people

don't behave like voters. They aren't receptive to the same pressures, incentives, and thinking that other voters are beholden to. Correct. We end that we're not watching and we don't see what the fuck is happening. Oh, hi, Joe Biden.

What are you doing here? What happened in New Hampshire? Oh, is happening. Oh, hi, Joe Biden. What are you doing here? What happened in New Hampshire? Oh, you won? Oh, good for you because I don't watch the fucking news because I'm black. I think it also forgets that so much of black voters, it's like a self-preservation. Since forever,

it's like, well, there's two racists who's a little less racist of the two racists. I guess we'll vote for that person. So it's like, well, there's two racists. Who's a little less racist of the two racists? I guess we'll vote for that person. So it's like we want a winner. Yeah, I think black people want a winner more than anything else. That's why the whole Bloomberg thing is confusing. White people who want black people to react to racism exactly how they react to racism.

You know, it's like, how can you vote Bloomberg? Because that motherfucker's got some bling and he can win. That's how they're reacting to. They're seeing somebody who can come in and beat Trump. I think a lot of white people, too, don't know the feeling of voting out of fear. Right. Of like you're just terrified of something. And so you're going to pick what feels like the best of terrible options. And it's like, I'm very scared.

And so that's always at the top of my options and it's like, I'm very scared and so I'm going, that's always at the top of my mind when I'm voting and I think white people aren't afraid of shit. Well, I actually think what's been, I think, the signal experience for white people in the last three years is suddenly discovering what it's like to be disenfranchised

and they don't like it. And they think it needs to stop right fucking now. Oh, you've dealt with this for hundreds of years? No thank you. Four years is enough. If it's not over in four, we give up forever. We're authoritarians.

They were like, oh fuck, this is how you feel all the time, black people? Oh shit. It's like the SNL right after the election that Dave Chappelle hosted. They're like what's wrong motherfuckers? What's wrong? Oh well. Oh well.

Democracy. Oh well. So what are your thoughts Larry on the fact that Mike Bloomberg has come in with no organic campaign, no real, you know, press the flesh politics, and is just taking his money and buying the staff he needs, buying the memes he needs, buying the ads he needs to get himself in the race? I would say any other election, I might be salty about it, and I might have a comment. How some ever, as my mom would say. I'm not really that mad at him.

I have to tell you, if this we are such in an unconventional politicking world nowadays. Trump blew everything wide open. I mean, the way that he won the presidency, I've never seen anything like that. And the way this whole thing is deconstructing right before our eyes for Biden. I mean, Biden's numbers were incredible, right? His polling numbers. Have you ever seen anybody get that kind of, like the lack of turnout for that means

what the fuck do we really know, you know? And the way we're talking about Iowa and how that process is crumbling. So I think the way that we're electing people is just changing. And I think Bloomberg is just being as you know, just badass as he needs to be

and just not giving a fuck about how it's always been done. Remember, this process right now is not really a democratic process, as you know. We're in a political process right now. And it used to be purely political. You know, it used to be men smoking cigars and fill rooms. So like, the whole Iowa caucus thing, it's really a political thing.

It's got nothing to do with democracy. It's got nothing to do with one person, one vote. None of that shit. We're just choosing someone right now. So when you think about it, he's really not doing anything out of the ordinary when you compare it to something 40 years ago. Many times candidates are chosen at the convention. We could have a broker convention this year. Your girl Hillary could come swooping right back.

She could. That actually could happen, you guys. Oh, God. That actually could happen. How awesome would that be, by the way? They told me I'd be greeted. Come on, you guys would love it. They told me I'd be greeted as a liberator.

Oh, man. I got to tell you, if you want to see a 1968 like riot Let's have Bernie Sanders win in Pledge Delegates Not get a majority And then Hillary Clinton, snap it Just grab it like Indiana Jones' hat From underneath the closing doorway It would be awesome, come on

That's theater you guys No thank you No thank you No thank you You guys. I was a theater major. No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you. You guys don't want a show? No, thank you. I don't want it.

I don't want it. Not the show. Not the show. No, no. No, please. We just lost. I'm so stressed out. I'm just imagining.

It's like, hey, this crazy thing happened. Everyone who had the Twitter app, their phone melted and then melted through the ground like acid on the ship from Alien. Yeah, exactly. And it hit magma and created volcanoes everywhere. But Larry, look, I hear your point, right?

We used to do it through rich and connected people in smoke-filled rooms. It's a political process. Right, but presumably we would like to do better than they did 40 years ago in pricking our candidate. No? You don't want something better

than a billionaire coming in and writing a check and saying, be my friend? All I want to do is beat that motherfucker. Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? But don't you worry that a candidate who buys this election won't be able to bring out the support of the full range of Democratic voters. Don't give a fuck, don't give a fuck.

How much is he paying you? Don't give a fuck. How much did you take? Did you make a meme, Larry? Did you make a meme, Larry? Did he use your meme? Did you make a meme? Did he use your meme?

You made a meme. Listen to me, guys. You're talking about Bloomberg. I'm talking about all these motherfuckers. I'm talking about DeVol Patrick. I don't care

who the nominee is. I really don't care. I love how people arrest them and say, oh, no, we can't have him. Go fuck yourself right now. That tangerine Idi Amin has got to get out

of the office. And whoever is the best person to do that, out. We can deal with that other shit later. Okay. I'm previewing my rant right now, just so you know. That was fun. That was...

What a conversation. When we come back, a game. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Earlier this week, the president and the attorney general interfered with the judgment of working-level prosecutors at the Department of Justice to seek a lower sentence

for the president's goon and Juvederm enthusiast, Roger Stone. All four DOJ prosecutors who were working the case withdrew seemingly protested abuse of power. This came just days after the president fired witnesses who testified against him during the impeachment trial. This is obviously a crisis. It is akin to the Saturday Night Massacre that ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. With the president already acquitted of impeachment charges and granted permission by Republicans in the Senate, Donald Trump is unleashed and he's behaving in ways that remind us of another paranoid criminal president who sought to interfere in the Department of Justice

while breaking the law to gain advantage in a presidential election, Barack Obama. Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon. Obviously. In fact, there are so many similarities between what Nixon did and Trump is doing that we don't think he'll be able to tell the difference in a game we're calling Did Dick Don It or Did Don

Dick It? Nice. I love it. Would anyone out there like to play the game? Did Travis get a raise for that? It was a collaboration. Who's out there? Oh, Who's out there? Oh, Sydney's out there.

Hi, what's your name? Hey, I'm Will. Hi, Will. I'm from London. You're from London? I'm here just for you. That's so nice. Welcome, Will from London.

You came all the way here just for him? No, that's a lie. Okay, okay, okay. Sorry, I just had the devil's trap. Can I get a... Thank you. All right, Will from London.

This president was accused of trying to unlawfully influence an election. Donald Trump. It was both. This president fired two key witnesses who testified against him.

Oh, both. No, Trump. This president also fired key witnesses who testified against him. Oh, both. No, Trump. This president also fired the identical twin of one of the witnesses, maybe to prevent him from secretly switching places, i.e. parent-entrapping the president. Absolutely Trump. Correct. This president ordered the firing of an official

who was investigating his role in a scheme to spy on a political rival. Both. Nixon. Numerous recordings exist of this president making racist remarks. Oh, Trump did. Oh, both. Correct. There are photos of this president standing in a way that does not look weird. Categorically both.

Nixon. This president tried to get his attorney general to fire the official who was investigating him, but the AG and the deputy AG refused to do it and had to resign. Nixon. Correct. The attorney general who served under this president waited over three weeks to release a special counsel's report into the president's misconduct and announced that no further action would be made. This gave this president enough time to take control of the media narrative.

Obama? No. Will, I swear to God, you start doing fucking London jokes, I will kick you the hell out of here. We will Brexit you so fucking hard. Trump, Trump, Trump. You got it, you got it. After this president fired officials who testified against him, his attorney general said no one at the DOG

could open politically sensitive investigations without the AG's approval. Trump. Correct. After this president succeeded in firing the special prosecutor who was investigating him, he was forced to hire a different special prosecutor, and that prosecutor continued the investigation. Nixon. Correct.

This president won the popular vote. Nixon. Correct. Creep, the committee to re-elect this president, was linked to a hotel break-in. Nixon. Correct. This president is a creep who owns some hotels. Oh, Trump. Nixon. Correct. This president is a creep who owns some hotels. Oh, Trump.

Public interest in the investigation into this president's misdeeds was kept alive by an FBI official who anonymously leaked info to the press. Both. You know, it's close, but it's Nixon. I was thinking as to whether that should have been both, and I was on the fence. You know what? Let's give him a check sound. This president fired the director of the FBI. Nixon.

Trump. Oh, shit. Come on, man. I'm going to come here, know our culture. This president ordered every current or former White House official called before Congress not to testify. Trump. This president believed the New York Times and the official called before Congress not to testify. Trump. This president believed the New York Times and the Washington Post were out to destroy him. Trump.

Both. This president didn't have Fox News to protect him. Nixon. That's right. Will, you've won the game. But he did have Roger Ailes. Nixon did have Roger Ailes, though. That's true.

Nixon, as Larry points out, Nixon did have Roger Ailes, though. We were reminded, anyway, I was reminded of this comparison as Bill Barr subverts the independent of the Justice Department. Rachel Maddow and her team did an extraordinary job documenting the lengths to which the Nixon administration went to cover up for the corruption of the president and

the vice president in a documentary podcast series called Bag Men, which I really encourage everybody to listen to. But I was reminded of how much hinged during the nixon era on the integrity of the attorney general himself and how dangerous it is to have a system that relies on one person's character in this way this is what two of the prosecutors said about elliot richardson when in the shadow of watergate they informed the attorney general that the vice president was corrupt too what would he do how would he react react? And here's what they said. They said, I remember watching Mr. Richardson very, very closely thinking, all right, is this where he's

going to say, good work, guys. Really, really good work. Thanks for coming in. Leave the files here. We'll see you later. And what he did was he started crawling into the case. He started crawling into the case. So what about this? What are you going to do about that? Like he was collaborator with us, which he was. He immediately crawled into the case with us. It was extraordinary. The other prosecutor said, I went to that meeting as I think most people in my position would have. I've heard good things about him, but we don't know him. And it was very much with a great sense of anxiety that we were going to say to him, here, what do you want us to do? And then figuratively speaking, you hold your breath until he tells us what he's going to tell us. Within the first few minutes of being with him, I knew, I think we all knew, that we were in the presence of a very special human being. To me, it's the key to the

whole saga. He goes on to say that if Elliot Richardson had not been the Attorney General at that particular time, the Vice President not only would have gotten away with his crimes, he would have become the President. It's a reminder of how much is at stake when you have a president who's willing to appoint an attorney general with no integrity, willing to bend the rule of law to help his party. We need to remove these people and elect people who believe in the rule of law,

but we also need to remove their enablers in the Senate who are looking the other way right now. Go to votesaveamerica.com slash getmitch. We need to remove the vulnerable Republicans that put their own interests and Trump's interests over the country. When we come back,

the rant wheel. The rant wheel. And we're back. Now it's time for the rant wheel. You know how it works. We spin the wheel wherever it lands. We talk about the topic. This week on the wheel,

we have Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union. We have the coronavirus cruise. Bloomberg's memes, Dixville Notch, BoJack Horseman, Democrats and Diversity, airplane seat arguments, Eminem at the Oscars. Let's spin the wheel.

Oh no. It has landed on airplane seat arguments and when i place that there it is not because i want to argue about airplane seats i want to argue about airplane seat arguments every couple of months some tired overworked local news producer goes back into that file of last minute, who gives a fuck, gotta get something in front of the fucking people at home before they fall asleep during Kimmel shit. And they reach into that folder and they pull out the classic argument starter, which is, should you lean your seat back on a plane?

And ideally, it is a social media designed bit of film that gets everybody talking and taking sides. Local news is trying to destroy us with this stuff. There was a clip moving around the internet today, and it showed a woman sitting in an airplane seat who had reclined. Sitting behind her was a man

punching her seat like a fucking three-year-old the whole way to wherever they were going. And the local news demons who decided to figure out how to describe what they were seeing which is she reclined he punched her seat who's right

now I'm not going to dignify that question by telling you how obvious it is that one should not physically punch other people's seats on an airplane.

And the fact that there are valueless, broken, late capitalist fucking tweeters in the comments, siding with the stone-cold maniac punching this woman's seat, does not tell me that this is a controversy worth exploring.

It tells me that our society has lost touch with God. Do not fall for these games. Do not argue with your loved ones over whether one should or shouldn't recline a seat. The seats are meant to recline. Let's spin it again. I took a side at the end. That was the trick.

But didn't leave any time for comment. It has landed on Democrats and diversity, a topic suggested by Larry. Yes. Touched on a little bit of this, but I think it's not going to be the angle you think it is. Because I'm having some problems right now. I think the Democrats...

Here's what it is. Democrats are spending a little too much time, I believe, trying to prove how racist they are. Okay? They are. Way too much time. If you want a simple answer, yes. Let's move on, Democrats. Okay? Let's stop spending so much time thinking how racist you are and keep focused on the fact that there is

a racist in the White House, okay? You're not going to out-racist him, so stop it. But Larry, he was the mayor in Blackville. But Amy Klobuchar, she was the DA. But Joe Biden, he was singing that song to black people. I ain't no waist-high. Bloomberg, he was eating grits and saying the N-word, wasn't he? No, I don't give a fuck.

I don't care. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm doing this for you guys. I'm doing this for you guys. I'm giving Democrats a nine month hiatus on racism on racism it's just you though

you do not get to say the n-word it's like the purge Larry don't get too happy a nine month hiatus on wondering whether or not you are racist okay don't worry about it not a problem racist, okay? Don't worry about it. Not a problem.

I'm not going to be concerned about it till December, okay? Enjoy this time. Enjoy. Go skiing. Do something really white. Knock yourself out. Knock yourself out. The race I want to focus on is the race for the White House.

That's the race I want to focus on, okay? You guys, this is going to be the most fun pass you motherfuckers will ever have, okay? Embrace it, enjoy it, and I'll see you in December. Anyway, you're welcome.

You're welcome. Let's spin it again. Yes. It has landed on Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union. It's sort of, I've gone soft. It's sort of a positive rant. So this week, Dwayne Wade gave an interview where he talked about how one of his children,

formerly Zion, is now going by the name Zaya, is using female pronouns, she and her. And I'm not going to talk about that child because I'm a grown-ass adult and I don't run my mouth about children, which is something a lot of people who do well to motherfucking remember. It's their children.

a lot of people who do well to motherfucking remember. It's their children. But there were a lot of people questioning the parenting of Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade. Now, I'm not a parent, but I have them. I'm familiar. And I feel like the main job is you keep the kid alive

and you're not a huge asshole to them. If they can read by high school a real bonus but they're alive and you're not a huge dick to them um and so people getting upset about these parents just sort of like being happy for their child sort of discovering who she is it feels like you're just mad at them for like loving their kid which is crazy fucked up and you should really look into that if that's a problem for you. And I also just generally moving forward hope that like one day what they're doing

is not like a huge deal that we're not like giving interviews and we're like, oh my God, can you believe it? Like, great. But I hope one day it's just like, oh look, a parent who's continue loving their child no matter who they turn out to be. The one exception is if child is mitch mcconnell you don't have to love him he sucks

i have a long list of people if they're your child you don't have to love them you can ask me for it later but top is Mitch McConnell the Dwayne Wade thing is so moving I feel like one of the great challenges in politics right now is how do you reach people who aren't listening how do you reach people with the importance of what's happening in the country and the importance of voting

the importance of participating, the importance of their power and their voice in this society the importance of being compassionate, of rejecting the politics of Trump, the importance of participating, the importance of their power and their voice in this society, the importance of being compassionate, of rejecting the politics of Trump, what have you, is how do you get to the people who've turned off or who maybe never paid attention to begin with? And it's really, really hard. And then you see somebody like Dwayne Wade

who doesn't sound like a politician, doesn't sound like an LGBTQ activist. He sounds like a dad. And he sounds like a thoughtful dad who realized in the moment that it wasn't about him, it was about his child. And as someone who has come out, for a lot of people that have come out, that's the most important thing a parent can do in that moment is remember, it's about what the kid is going through. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that what Dwayne Wade is doing for trans rights will be one of the most important milestones in the acceptance of trans people in this country. I think it's an extraordinary heroic

act to talk about it so openly and with such vulnerability and such love for his daughter. I saw him on television this morning and he, like Obama, I think admitted he kind of evolved. He didn't quite use that language. But the thing that also is important here is as a black athlete yeah you know and there's this masculine thing that you know people have to have that veneer of and he has allowed and so a couple of the other players thanked him for it too i think scotty pippen it was really kind of moving he's giving room for them to you know come into this place and not feel threatened you know or whatever it is and Man, that's huge. I remember when the player came out as gay. I can't remember who it was the other year, but he was kind of shunned

and it was kind of pushed to the side. When athletes come out and stand like that, and have you seen how effortless he is too? It's fantastic. It's like this is my child. I obviously, there's no question. Also, his other son, whose name I cannot remember

he was out here like I will like beat your ass if you talk shit about Zaya and that's the energy that I want to move through with and the whole family and just one other piece of it too that I do think is important it's amazing how much it touches on to see this man do this

is we talk a lot about toxic masculinity and I think so much I think the to see this man do this is we talk a lot about toxic masculinity and i think so much i think the right understood this before the left did which is if you talk about toxic masculinity but don't talk about what replaces it you leave a lot of people unsure what it means to be a vulnerable open man who still believes in the strength and character of being a man and i think what you see in those interviews is a more progressive version of masculinity because it's taking an incredible amount

of confidence and strength to speak in this way to show that there's a way of being strong and vulnerable as a man and I think that's also just an incredible service let's spin it again. Why not? It has landed on the coronavirus cruise.

Listen, this is no laughing matter, all right? And every day it seems to get worse, and we don't know where it's going to end. And I'm very open to the possibility that even speaking about it in this flip way will look horrific in hindsight. But hindsight is 20-20, and I don't have it yet. So here I am. All I keep thinking about is the people on that cruise ship

who said to themselves, you know what? Yeah, we started dating two months ago. But I really like him. And I think this is an opportunity to just see if what we have is going to work. And how long could it, you know, how bad could it get?

It's a six-day cruise. We'll get to go to a beautiful part of the world we've never been to before. And I picture this nascent couple slowly discovering over the course of this six days that meeting while high on coke at a club in Las Vegas was not the shared set of values and character traits conducive

to a loving and long-term partnership. And I imagine them sitting down on the very last day of that cruise and sitting in their interior room with no windows, as many rooms in a cruise ship, as you know, are the cheaper rooms and they don't have windows. They're nice and small and no windows and sitting across from each other on the couches they set up during the day because the room is too small to have both a couch and a bed and discussing how when they get back to harbor,

they're going to go their separate ways. And at that very moment, they hear, wee-oo. Do not leave your rooms. There is coronavirus aboard this ship. Remain in your cabins. We will bring you food three times a day. There are seven movies available.

Four of them are Chinese language films. Three of them are the movies that were cheap enough to get for this boat that we stole from United Airlines. The ice sculpture has been moved to four o'clock instead of three o'clock. Bingo has been cancelled. It has been replaced by do not leave your cabins.

On the Lido deck, there is nothing. Remain in your cabins. On the Lido deck, there is nothing. Remain in your cabins. Be sure to check out the duty-free shop in another life. Remain in your cabins. Do you not think, though, it's like fucking, like, of course.

It's 2020. Of course this is happening. Oh, yeah, that there's a disease vector cruise ship floating listlessly in the waters off the coast of China. Yeah, that definitely clocks with the dystopia we're living in. Mike Bloomberg is paying internet morons to make memes about how he sucks.

Is this worse than the poop cruise? That is such a good question, Cara. That's a great question. That's an awesome question. Which would you, if you had to be on the coronavirus cruise or the poop cruise?

Wow. What a fucking choice. What a fucking choice. That is like a Sophie's Choice of bed, you know, of cruising. With Ronan. With Ronan. With Ronan.

So the poop cruise, everybody, there was like poop everywhere, right? Yeah, I just, poop cruise everybody there was like poop everywhere right yeah i i just poop cruise i don't know you should know the details i honestly the idea of ronin boarding a cruise ship to me it's like it's like how a vampire needs permission to enter your home like i don't know if it's possible for him to physically cross the transom onto a fucking cruise ship. Larry, poop cruise, coronavirus cruise. Can we convince the Republicans to have their convention on the Pacific Princess? It's the Pacific Princess, you guys.

You're going to love your convention there. What are you talking about? You love cruises. You love cruises. Meals all that you can eat, whatever you want. Absolutely. Got everything there. Little coronavirus.

What was that? Nothing. Let's end on a high note. Can I say something? Please. You're all Los Angeles residents. George Gaston is running for Los Angeles District Attorney. Throw him some coins.

Jackie Lacey sucks. Should not be the DA. Give him some coins. Jackie Lacey sucks. Should not be the DA. Give him some money. Fucking vote for him. He should be the next District Attorney. Literally every single one. Fucking everyone in here. Can I say one thing, too?

Please. Back on there is my podcast. I have Stacey Abrams on right now. Guys, let me tell you, though. She talks about voter suppression suppression which is very important and also the census this year which a lot of people are sleeping on and census 2010 just changed so many things you know huge if you have a chance listen back on stacy abrams or verified action and fair count. Fair fight action, fair count. Absolutely.

You know what? Let's end on that, which is right now this has, I think, been one of the most dispiriting parts of the primary between not being able to count votes, not feeling like we know which direction this is going to go, all of us feeling, I think, this kind of uncertainty about how to pick a candidate, seeing each of the strengths of all of these people, but also having a knot in our stomachs that we're not sure who's the one who's

best suited to beat Donald Trump, which to Lara's point is the most important thing and what's on all of our minds. But in the midst of all of that, there are all these other fights going on all the time. There's Stacey Abrams' effort in 20 battleground states to make sure we count the vote. There are these local races where DAs and city council members are up and have often a bigger impact on the lives of the community than the national figures we talk about every single day. And there's efforts we can do. There's things we can do right now to build the infrastructure we need in 2020. You know, we've talked about this a lot on Pod Save America. We should talk about it here. Republicans are really fucking smart about this, all right? They have been building an infrastructure. They

have been making sure that the RNC and all these outside groups and the campaigns that they're going to run can coordinate and get their vote out. 2018, when we won the House, that was the story that gave us all this hope about how much we could do in 2020. And that was absolutely right. But because narratives are simple and reality is complicated, the part of it that we ignore to our peril is the fact that the Republican turnout machine worked even though Democrats were so much more enthusiastic to vote. Their machine is ready to go. The Koch brothers didn't run for president.

They put their billions to work putting iPads in the hands of Republican doorknockers who are going to make sure that every single person on their list gets out there. And if they need any help, they'll have Fox News and the right wing infrastructure hitting Republican suburban baby boomers with a fucking cattle prod to get them out of their chairs, into their golf carts and to the polling place. We don't have that same infrastructure. We really don't. So if you go to votesaveamerica.com, you can support Stacey Abrams. You can support our infrastructure fund. You can find local races that you can get involved in. It is 261 days to the election right now. Every single person here can do more than they're doing. And a lot of people who have always thought to themselves, I'll call the next one. I'll knock on doors next time. There's no next time. This election...

This time, we are playing for keeps, and we have to do everything we can right now and more than we've ever done before, so go to votesaveamerica.com. Start the practice of getting involved now so that when we get to November, we have done everything we possibly can because we don't know what's going to happen on election night,

but I know that I want all of us to be watching those returns knowing that we did everything we could, that we left it all on the field because we're going to do more than just listen and tweet. We're actually going to make our actions reflect the emotions and the pain and the anger and the hope that we feel. Okay, that's our show. Larry Wilmore, Cara Brown, Ronan Farrow,

thank you all for being here. Thanks for coming out. Have a great night. Love It or Leave It is a product of Crooked Media. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett, Elisa Gutierrez, Lee Eisenberg, and our head writer, former Mike Bloomberg speech

writer, Travis Hellway. Jocelyn Kauffman, Alicia Carroll, and Peter Miller are the writers. Bill Lance is our audio editor, and Stephen Colon is our sound engineer. Sydney Rapp is our assistant producer, and August Dichter is our intern. Our theme song is written and performed by Sure Sure. Thanks to our designers, Jesse McLean and Jamie Skeel, for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast, and to our digital producers, Thank you.