Lovett or Leave It - Kash Patel, Drunk with Power

Episode Date: April 25, 2026

Lovett or Leave It just flew into Washington, DC and boy is the FBI Director tired! Lovett is joined by Senator Chris Murphy to talk winning the midterms in the face of AI slop and AI SuperPACs. Then MSNow's Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels debate how journalists can stand up to Trump when they share a ballroom this weekend, and we answer a few tough questions facing Democrats. Finally, the rant wheel spins and a sold out crowd at the Lincoln Theatre shares a few second thoughts. What a night.

Hey, you're listening to Love It or Leave it live in D.C. sponsored by Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Washington is famous for a lot of things, cherry blossoms, great Ethiopian food, terrible, terrible people in Congress. Block people from using their Medicaid at Planned Parenthood health centers because it wasn't hard enough to get health care. When the Trump administration defunded Planned Parenthood, it put more than a million people at risk of losing access to affordable health care. Defunding Planned Parenthood means cancers go undetected. St.Is go untreated and people struggle to get basic health care. Congress can stop this. That's why Planned Parenthood Action Fund is fighting like health to make sure patients can get the care they need. This fight needs you. Go to planparenthood action.org

slash love it to donate today and help protect care for millions. That's Planned Parenthood action.org slash love it. Washington, D.C. It is great to be back at the Lincoln Theater. We have got a great show for you tonight. Senator Chris Murphy is here. Simone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels are here. We are here on the eve of the White House Correspondence Dinner. I can't wait for that mentalist to

read Trump's mind and then run into traffic. Just comes screaming out of that Hilton ballroom. But until then, let's get into it. What a week! We're all living through a fascinating experiment. What happens when the president builds an

administration around loyalty to him and not loyalty to the country. We're the modern-day Marie Curie. And by that, I mean this experiment will kill us. Plus, babe, we're glowing. To get a top job in the administration, these people must be willing to completely embarrass themselves for Trump. But the only people willing to do that would never qualify for these jobs on the merits.

You sold your soul to the devil, and yet you still suck at baseball. It's like, I can have funny writers. or writers who tell me that all my jokes are funny, but not both. Take FBI director, Cash Patel. Please. Last Friday, the Atlantic reported that Patel was regularly getting drunk at private lounges in Washington in Las Vegas

and was unreachable during unexplained absences. Trash Patel over here. According to the Atlantic's two dozen sources, Patel was known to drink to excess at the private club Ned's here in D.C. and the poodle room in the Fountain Blue Hotel in Las Vegas where he hangs out on the weekend. And the poodle room is a very exclusive place, okay?

This is directly from the website. Access to the poodle room is granted exclusively to active members, guest staying in fleur-de-le-lis suites, and select American Express cardholders. Yeah, they don't let anybody in there unless they have $500, which you get back, which you basically get back. get it back at Lulu Lemon.

It's like no big deal. Now, I'd make fun of Cash Patel, but he does belong at the poodle club. He's high, strong, neurotic, prone to separation anxiety, quite vocal and reactive, easily matted, nervous around strangers, and I think it is with him fair to worry about hip dysplasia. At times, Patel's security detail

reportedly had trouble waking him because he was plastered. When reached for a comment, Secretary of Defense Pete Higgs has said, that is so unprofessional. If you're going to drink that much, do a little bump, you fucking pussy. On one occasion, grow up.

On one occasion last year, Patel's security detail made a request for SWAT-style breaching equipment because he was unresponsive in a locked room, according to this report. Multiple officials said they worried that Patel's behavior

constituted a threat to public safety and that the FBI would be unprepared for a terrorist attack. Ironic, he's not prepared for another 9-11 when those are the directions his eyes point. I'm loving woke too. Patel is also paranoid. Earlier this month, he reportedly found himself locked out of a computer system and freaked out that he had been fired.

It is so cool that he's paranoid and totally unprepared for the actual worst-case scenarios of his job. He's like a hypochondriac who loves the taste of doorknobes. But Patel isn't in this job because he's, qualified or capable. He's in this job because he's committed to targeting Trump's political enemies, almost as committed as he is to getting the poodle room to add the cash to its cocktail menu, which it refuses to do because a bottle of bud light that you have to drink real fast is not a cocktail. The New York Times reported this week that the FBI began investigating one of the

papers reporters last month following an article about Patel enlisting SWAT teams to provide his girlfriend with full-time security, which is obviously a lot of. unethical that man should not have a girlfriend. And this is neither here nor there, but cash, my man. How many piping hot dudes do you want around your girlfriend 24 hours a day making her feel safe? They don't make endless movies and TV shows about bodyguards because people don't want to fuck their bodyguards.

Whitney Houston doesn't sing, I will always love off-screen boyfriend. Playing with fire, buddy. On Monday, Patel sued the issue. Atlantic and the story's author, Sarah Fitzpatrick for defamation, accusing them of, quote, publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations, designed to destroy director Patel's reputation and drive him from office. Patel would have driven himself from office, but he failed the breathalyzer. A day later, the FBI director addressed this story publicly.

I'm on the job. I'm the first one in. I'm the last one out. I'm like an everyday American who loves his country, loves his sport of hockey, and champions my friends when they're They raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate. I've never been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we file a $250 million defamation lawsuit. But the DOJ ethics handbook actually says that an employee is prohibited from habitually using alcohol or other intoxicants to access on or off duty. This isn't one of those jobs where you can knock off work and go get blasted, like podcaster or defense secretary. And speaking to the devil, on Tuesday, Secretary of Defensiveness, Pete Hegseth, announced that the Pentagon will stop requiring service members from getting annual flu vaccines.

Yes. At long last, we're addressing our greatest military weakness troops too healthy. Let's take a look. Under the disastrous Biden administration, this Pentagon waged an unrelenting war on our warriors on many fronts. You know what I'm talking about. What happened COVID-19? the vaccine. No more. We're seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities. In this case, this includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it. One problem. Yes, Biden is old. But not that old. We've had a flu vaccine mandate since 1945. We were pretty excited about the flu vaccine back then, because because the flu killed 45,000 soldiers during World War I.

In 1918, doctors for the American Expeditionary Force in Europe sent 340,000 soldiers to the hospital for the flu. That is more than were hospitalized for injuries sustained in combat. The Army Surgeon General wanted to stop sending soldiers to France until the epidemic subsided. But the Germans were in retreat. The war was almost over, and Pershing needed reinforcements. They tried to get me to cut this.

No. No. No, we're going to talk about what happened in World War I. And so, in 1918, as Woodrow Wilson continued sending troops on packed ships to the front, by one estimate, 12,000 service member died on the journey, many buried at sea. If you pass by a ship, you could watch that ship throw bodies overboard, sometimes a, a dozen at a time because the flu was ravaging American soldiers, you absolute fucking dipshit. The straight of Hormuz isn't the salad bar at Sizzler.

You can't seize control by coughing all over it. Hegeseth noted that the flu vaccine will still be available for soldiers who believe it's in their best interest. But we will not force you because your body, your faith, and your convictions are not negotiable. It's interesting, isn't it? Your body, your choice? This is the military.

You don't even get to choose your own haircut. This guy gave a whole speech about beards being woke. Now you can't have a mustache, but you can't choose walking pneumonia. Anyway, speaking to people who sound like they have walking pneumonia, RFK Jr. Test, why not? Testified before Congress this week. Hey, let's take a listen. You have done among the many that you described in your testimony.

In that context, in your testimony, you identified nutrition as a bedrock of help. Sorry, that was the wrong clip. That was the recording of someone who snuck an English bulldog on an airplane. Is there a good reminder? Fill your seatpap machine with distilled water only. No roadkill viscera. RFK also refused to commit to following the vaccine recommendations of Trump's nominee to lead the CDC, Eric Schwartz. If Dr. Swartz is confirmed, will you commit on the record today to implement whatever vaccine guidance she issues without interference?

I'm not going to make that kind of commitment. Because you probably won't, you'll probably fire her. Sort of rude to ask a question and you know the answer to. Said R of K Jr., there are only two kinds of women. Consummit professionals with whom I have a terrible working relationship and crazy bitches who are into this. Let me see where we're at in a few days. And don't worry, they did bring up the roadkill. I really wish you'd spend more time on,

more time thinking about the American people, less time talking about whale heads, bearheads, and raccoon parts. Okay. Talking about what's important to the American people and how they can... I don't talk about any of those things. Okay. Representatives time is up. Boys, boys, there's plenty of raccoon cock to go around.

Kennedy's right, though. He doesn't bring it up. This stuff is just like a dead bearer. by the side of the road, irresistible. But what these stooges, Patel, Hague, Seth, RFK Jr. understand is that for all their bumbling incompetence and crank beliefs, the one line they can't cross is disagreeing publicly with Trump.

Here's Kennedy, inventing new kinds of math to avoid suggesting Trump might be mistaken. Oh, but I would say this, Senator. Do you know what it calls? President Trump has a different way of calculating. If there's two ways of calculating percentage, If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to 10, that's a 600% reduction. I understand that you know I only have five minutes.

Do you know what the drug costs at Costco? I do not. Only two ways to calculate percentages. There are infinite ways to calculate percentages if you're brave enough to be wrong. Math is all about putting your own spin on it. Finding the numbers that feel right to you. And speaking of numbers that just feel right, Trump's approval rating continues to fall.

It's now in the 30s. Country is turning against these fuck-ups. It's gotten so bad, they're running out of fuck-ups. U.S. attorney's offices, once considered among the most prestigious and coveted places to work in the legal profession, have started recruiting lawyers straight out of law school. What they do is they set up a box,

propped up on a stick, tied to a string, outside the Cooley Law School campus in Tampa, Florida. And if anyone tries to grab the Zinn they've got under there, boom, you pull the string, you've got yourself a brand new U.S. attorney. And as Cash Patel fires or drives out seasoned FBI officials, the Justice Department has been lowering its standards to try to rebuild its workforce,

want to become an FBI agent? Not so fast. First, let's see if you can get both arms through the sleeves of this FBI jacket. We're low on women's medium for some reason. All of this is obviously dangerous, but it's also absurd. These people have no idea what they're doing. Look at this photo from the White House that they posted to celebrate

a championship women's tennis team from Georgia in which you cannot see the women's team. I, for one, love to see Republicans celebrating men for competing in women's sports. How are these people going to open the Strait of Hormuz? They can't even clear a path for a fucking portrait. But congrats to the women's tennis team from Georgia

and those ladies standing behind them. With that, we have got a great show for you tonight. We'll be right back with Senator Chris Murphy. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Love It is brought to you by Koyuchi. I'm so excited to tell you about our new sponsor, Koyuchi, especially considering April as Earth Month,

Koyuchi is in a league of its own when it comes to bedding bath and home products, and their organic satin and flannel sheet sets are the key to a more comfortable, healthier sleep year round. I have a set of sheets from Koyuchi, and they're so great. They're really comfortable cotton sheets, and they came in a really cool pattern. I really like them. Invest in your health and the best sleep of your life. All Koyuchi sheets are made of natural fibers and certified to be free of toxins and harmful

chemicals that could seep into your skin, and they're so soft and gentle. You can sleep well and safely with Koyuchi. Koyuchi is a luxury. you can feel good about, whether it's bedding or bath towels, table linens, crib sheets, or spa robes. All of Kauuchi's products are the absolute highest quality made with natural fibers, low-impact eyes, and certified fair trade. Koyuchi looks great, feels amazing, and is good for your health and the planet. If you want healthy, organic luxury betting that lasts a lifetime you need Koyuchi, get 15% off

your first order when you visit koiuchi.com slash love it. That's koyuchi.com slash love it to get 15% off. C-O-Y-C-H-I dot com slash love it. Love it or leave it is brought to you by Chime. Chime is changing the way people bank. They offer the most rewarding fee-free banking. Built for you, not the 1%. They're not like traditional old banks that charge you overdraft and monthly fees.

They have thousands of fee-free ATMs because why pay to get your own money? Chime members can benefit from up to $1,150 in annual rewards fee-free. You get 5% back on Chime card in a category of choice like gas or groceries. You get savings that grows faster with a 3.75% APY. That's nine times higher than the national average. Plus, you get premium travel perks like airport lounge access and 24-7 travel concierge included with your chime card. They also have SpotMe, which lets you overdraft up to $200 fee-free.

Chime is rated five stars by USA Today for customer service, real humans 24-7. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free today. Head to chime.com slash love it. That is chime.com slash love it. It only takes a few minutes to sign up. Chime is a fintech, not a bank.

Banking services for My Pay and Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners, optional products and services may have fee or charges, stated annual percentage yield and cashback for Chime Prime only, no minimum balance required. Checking account ranked based on JD Power Survey published October 20th, 2025. For more information on APY rates, my pay, spot me, and travel perks, go to chime.com slash disclosures. I'm not going to do it. It's got to really freeze this up because I think that's what it is.

I think that's why the breathing is so intense because this is just fucking rock solid. I don't, because I don't know what kind of work. workouts he's doing, but it's not the kind of workouts where you're thinking about how you're using your breath and your diaphragm. I mean, I don't totally understand the condition that he has, but it has a lot to me, basically, from the experience of practicing them today. I think it has a lot to do with not really being connected to your body. I'm not saying he doesn't have the spasm thing. Like, I know that's real and not to be made fun of, but still. But there's more to it than that because I think, like,

think like the breathing thing comes from like deep in here and fucked up. Okay. And we're back. An announcement. CricketCon is back. It's bigger and yes, we're saying it's 600% better. November 5th through 7th here in D.C. Right after the midterms, we'll either have a lot to celebrate or a lot of fingers to point.

Bigger stages, more panels and speakers as we head into a presidential election cycle in which the stakes could not be higher. Plus, we will be doing a live taping of love and relieve it. We'll be doing a live POD Save America and a live strict scrutiny. So please, last year, it was such a success. We were really blown away, and it really, it made clear that we needed a space

where everybody can come together, see each other in person, maybe argue in person, but also be with each other as part of this big pro-democracy movement. And we're going to have even more people be a part of it, more speakers, more candidates. And so we hope everybody, will come be a part of it too. Go to crookedcon.com, sign up for updates,

including when we'll be releasing tickets, the lineup, and more. Also, love it or leave it back in LA next week. We are making some changes to this show. We are going to be at a new studio with a new set. We will continue bringing you the 100% solid jokes that we bring you every week. We are also being doing two episodes a week. The idea here is that,

We love doing this show. We love talking about this news. There's too much news to cover every week. And so we want to have a space where we can have a live audience, but also get these shows out quicker and make more of them. So if you're in L.A., come check out the new studio. And for everybody else, do me a favor. Subscribe on our YouTube.

Subscribe wherever you listen. And help us make this show, you know, if it's even possible, more successful. We are giving away some free tickets for the first couple tapings. So please go to crooked.com. slash events. All right. Please welcome to the stage. He just got in from the Senate and boys is voting and tired. It's Connecticut's own Senator Chris Murphy. All right. Thanks for being here. Fucking poodle room. The poodle room. The poodle room. You know these guys are in charge of the country. No, I know that I know. You know, right? I know that they are. I don't think cash

Patel is, but I know there are others who are in charge of the country. I don't think he has that much to run. I don't know how many people really feel like. I mean, let's talk about Cash Patel for a second. I'm the one, you know, I feel a little bit about Cash Patel, how I feel about ICE at the airports. I'd rather Cash Patel in the poodle room. Like, I don't think there's a lot of meetings Cash Patel is at that he's making better for the country. The problem is that cash Patel shouldn't be the head of the FBI. I don't really care that much about how drunk he gets on Saturdays. Yeah, I mean, the problem is you can't take a day off, an hour off as the director of the FBI,

and especially in the middle of a war, right? This guy has fired everybody that's competent in counterterrorism. There's no doubt that we have more threats to the country than ever before and part of what's going on in the Middle East. And so, yeah, I don't think you can actually assume that there are a whole bunch of other competent people that are running counterterrorism when Cash Patel is off at the Poodle room, Tulsi Gabbard is in charge. And so there's, there's, there's a shortage of, of, of, of, of competent people of the FBI in the White House these days. Yeah, it's a bummer.

So, so it is, stone cold bummer. No, it is. It is. So you, you've just been through a overnight set of votes in the Senate. This is Republicans still trying to figure out. out how to pass funding for DHS with Democrats refusing to go along with any funding for ICE, which as it right now is not done, right? The voterrama has concluded. Yeah, no, so not done. I mean, they've got to pass this through the Senate. They haven't done that yet. The House, they've got to get it signed by the president. So yes, technically, you know, the DHS continues to be shut down. And at the same time, there's been a series of votes. resolutions of disapproval around certain arm sales to Israel that have been coming up over the last

a couple of weeks led by Bernie Sanders. You know, I went back and looked and it wasn't that long ago that these were getting 5, 10, 15 votes. Now they're getting 40 votes. You've been voting with Senator Sanders to halt a lot of these arm sales for a long time. From the start. Yeah, from the start. And I'm curious, obviously, there's an immediate goal of preventing these offensive arms sales from going through to Israel. But it also does seem to tilt at the kind of policy a country like the United States could have towards Israel, which is one in which we use our leverage to force it into acting without committing ethnic cleansing and atrocities in Gaza. West Bank and beyond. And in part because I think the Biden administration was so solicitous of Israel, and obviously Trump has been as well,

it almost feels unrealistic to even suggest that such a policy could exist or be effective. But I guess beyond just the immediate goal of trying to prevent the worst from being done to Palestinians in the short term, what is the hope in the long term for America's posture towards Israel? Well, I mean, listen, if you show up every day, Karen, about Israel's security, you should oppose the way in which they are enacting a humanitarian catastrophe inside Gaza and inside Lebanon. This is bad for Israel's security in the long run. They're going to create more terrorists than they kill. And it is clearly staining the reputation

of the United States all around the world to not use our leverage, right? Like, why are you a superpower, right? Why do you spend this amount of money that we spend on the military if you aren't willing to speak truth to both enemies and friends? The fact of the matter is what they did in Gaza cannot be explained or excused. It has made them weaker. It has made the United States weaker. And we should not continue to fund an Israeli government that is not committed to upholding the rules of war and humanitarian law. And so, listen, I say this. I say this as somebody who supports a Jewish state in the Middle East. I just think they are making it much harder on themselves in the long run if they don't do the things necessary to make sure that they are actually quelling the influences that lead people

to join terrorist groups and they are doing the things necessary to preserve a future Palestinian state living next door to an Israeli state. So you got in trouble this past week. You got in trouble this past week for reposting news of 26 Iranian vessels making it through the U.S. blockade in the Strait of Hormuz with the comment, people are very upset. They're very upset. Are you ready to apologize? What would you like to know about that, John? Are you ready to finally to say how sorry you are? Are you sorry, Senator Murphy? Are you ready to say you're fucking sorry?

Why are you rooting for Iran? Like the idea the idea that like I have a bumper sticker on my car rooting for the Iranian ghost fleets, right? Yeah, I mean, listen, I take it as a compliment, right? These guys are so desperate, so desperate to not be held account for a war that is killing Americans that is destroying American lives as well as the American economy that is

making Iran stronger, that they are going to create fictions, that they are going to conjure just such transparent, false indignation about sarcasm just so that for one day they don't have to talk about the fact that they are destroying American security and American credibility by a war that is making America less safe every single hour and every single day. So, listen, I understand why they got off for one day on having to argue the merits of their decision to back up this president by focusing on my sarcastic tweet. But it is a sign of how off the rails this war has gone. Hate to think of how they get off on the other days.

And by the way, and by the way, everything Trump says, according to a Republican, is a joke, right, is a sarcasm, is sarcasm. They explain everything he does as a comedic routine. So sarcasm and comedy is only available for Donald Trump. We should just try to be as funny as he is. Now, you recently posted on Substack that prediction markets are the latest sign of our spiritual disintegration how should we be dealing with the polymarket and cali and these other prediction markets?

Well, I mean, listen, I just think this is pretty simple. You should not allow for there to be bets on these prediction marketplaces on government action, on war and peace, on military strikes. I mean, we obviously know that there are loads of people around the Trump administration that are making a ton of money based upon their inside information. We learned today that there was actually, right, someone involved in the actual Venezuela operation on the ground who had made a big bet ahead of time. And of course, that's what's going to happen in this White House. This is it the most corrupt White House in the history of the country from the top down.

And so if you're working for Donald Trump, you are basically told that you should get your peace. However you can through whatever methods, and one of the new methods is through polymarketing calci. But I guess what I mean when I say that it's a sign of our deeper spiritual crisis, I mean, I do worry that everything in this country is being gamified, right? And that we have turned these deeply moral questions like war or peace, like whether people are going to die in the Middle East tomorrow because Iran strikes a particular country into an opportunity for moneymaking. And you suck the moral component out of these deeply moral issue. when they just become an opportunity for somebody to make money. If something bad happens, somebody makes money, and if something good happens, somebody makes money. And so, to me, this is about fighting corruption, but it's also about making sure that there are some elements

of our national conversation that aren't opportunities for money making. I think that's kind of essential to preserve what's left of the American soul. Yeah, I saw, I looked at it. of what you had, you'd put forward this, this proposal, it's bill, to ban bets on certain kinds of government actions, things in which the government is primarily responsible. But a certain point, like, even if it doesn't involve the government, the contours of people knowing the outcome, being able to bet on it, the fact that it's basically very difficult to regulate, that the notion of insider trading is hard to define, even though they claim that they've done it, at a certain

point should, like, and by the way, we have a gambling crisis in which we're moving the friction and putting it on people's phones has led to skyrocketing bankruptcies. So many people are kind of emiserating themselves through these. I love gambling. I can't have it. I do. Genuinely, I love it. I can't have it on my phone. These kind of betting markets are unsafe at any speed. Like, shouldn't these just be banned outright? Like, no, as a society, we don't bet on random events that happen between people on our fucking phones for money because it's just, it leads to an entire economy in which these companies are the rake that get a profit and the rest of us are, slowly depleting ourselves through these ridiculous kinds of bets.

Yeah, no, listen, I mean, I, and do you think that should include sports betting, too? I wonder about the sports betting on the phones. These companies reached out to us about advertising, and because I support the idea that gambling in some form should be legal. I thought, well, I like gambling. I think people should have freedom to gamble. Why don't do these ads? But then we stopped in part because you see all these reports about how it being on the phone

is so specifically dangerous. Yeah, yeah. So that's why Polymarket and CalShare are so dangerous in particular because the traditional sports betting sites, whether you like them or not, actually are state regulated, right? So there are some protections built in, for instance, to make sure that minors aren't betting on, you know, draft kings, for instance. There are none of those protections for these prediction markets. And so they're being accessed by folks that, you know, shouldn't be on the phones and shouldn't be on the markets. And so my legislation doesn't touch the

sports betting, but what it says is that any event in which there is a knowable outcome, where somebody has inside information about whether a war is going to start or what joke you're going to make in your monologue tonight, that would be a great way to make money. Yeah. I mean, check, there may be a prediction market on what you were going to say tonight. I mean, that's why you shouldn't have the app on your phone. phone maybe. Wait a second. This interview is over. Here's the other piece of this, especially when it comes to these questions of public policy. I think these prediction markets give you an illusion of being connected to a big event that has an impact on your life.

and I think people are more attracted to these prediction markets because it's the only way that they feel that they actually can be connected. Democracy is supposed to be the way that you're connected to big events. That's how you're supposed to actually influence whether war happens or not. But people feel, and maybe this is a stretch, John, but I think people feel that our government and our democracy is so captured by billionaires and corporations that that's not the way that they are going to, to have an impact or connection to a big event like war or peace. And so prediction markets become

the way that you have a stake. And so part of that spiritual rot that I think these prediction markets expedite is a retreat from people actually deciding that they're going to spend their life trying to fix democracy. Instead, they can just stay connected to the big events that dictate their life on Kalshi and Polly Market. So that's why I think this is so important. This isn't just about fighting corruption. This is also about centering our conversations in a moral conversation and also making sure that we provide incentives for people to actually spend time fixing the true vehicle by which you influence things like war and peace, which is American democracy. So let's talk about that for a moment with the midterms are coming.

Right. look busy. Right now from your vantage point, what are the places where you think, where are you most sort of nervous about us not doing what it takes in the next few months? Like, where are the places where you think, oh, we need to button this up?

We're not ready here. We're not focused on the right things. Whether it's running, whether how we're campaigning or protecting against electoral malfeasance. Well, I mean, I guess a year ago, I was worried that we were going to sit around protecting norms, especially when it came to elections, well, they shattered every single one of them. And as much of a critic as I occasionally am that we don't

fight as hard as we should, I give a lot of credit to Hocking Jeffries and the folks in the House who have gone on the offense to make sure that we have a map that actually allows us to win on a district-by-district basis if we win the national popular vote. So what happened in California, and what happened in Virginia, I think, are really important. And listen, they are starting to run out of ways to try to steal the election. They thought that they were going to be able to change the House districts. That looks like it's going to be a wash or an advantage for us. They thought they were going to be able to deploy troops into the cities.

For the time being, the Supreme Court seems to have drawn a line on that tactic. They tried to pass the SAVE Act, right, to try to create a... a pretext to argue that the elections have been stolen. That has been pulled from the Senate floor. So we do have to remain vigilant because they are not going to give up, but we spend a lot of times beating ourselves up for not being good enough. I will say, thus far, we have done a pretty good job better than maybe I had expected a year ago in foreclosing all of their plans to try to steal the 2026 election, and we should take credit collectively for that. Cool.

I mean, there is some good news. No, I'm just sitting in it. Yeah. Now, here's the, okay, so you ask me what I worry about, though? Yeah, let's get sad, too. So I worry about, I worry about the AI investment and the crypto investment, right? And I worry that we will take the wrong approach. So there is a school of thought that if you just kind of be nice to the AI companies and you be nice to the crypto companies and you kind of do what they want or you don't criticize them publicly, maybe they won't spend money against Democrats.

I think that would be a huge mistake. They're going to spend a little bit of money on one Democrat here or there, but let's be clear. The AI companies and the crypto companies know that they've got Donald Trump and Republicans in their pocket. they're going to spend 90% of their cash on Republicans. And the only answer for us really is to make their spending and their intervention in these elections a campaign issue, right, to talk about how much money they are spending, to talk about the cost to the public if our government becomes wholly, completely captured by crypto and more importantly, probably for regular people by AI. So I worry that that money is going to be dispositive, but that we're going to make a mistake by thinking that, that we can just kind of look the other way and hope they don't spend it or spend it somewhere else.

If we're going to beat AI, if we're going to beat crypto in this election, it's because we're going to take them on and promise to the American people that if you put us in power, we're going to actually protect American families from the poison that is being stuck in our pockets. Now, before we let you go,

we did want to touch on one final topic. While some Republicans are occasionally willing to stand up to Trump, most seem inclined to kneel and their knees are not up for it, which is why it's time to take a look at the party's most jaw-dropping sycophantic moves in a lightning round

we're calling cult of personality disorder. Here's how it works. I'll describe a proposal put forth by a Republican legislator to honor the leader Trump. You tell us if it's real or fake. Are you ready? A bill to declare Trump's birthday

of federal holiday. Don't help him. I mean, that sounds true. It is. Yeah. Proposed the Trump birthday and Flag Day holiday establishment act. It would turn Trump's birthday June 14th to federal holiday and combine it with Flag Day, which currently falls on the second Sunday in June.

Next up, renaming JFK Airport in New York, Trump International Airport. I don't think that that's true. You're right. It's fake. Palm Beach International is going to be renamed President Donald J. Trump International to go into effect July 1st. Another proposal by a member of Congress was submitted to rename Delis Airport also after Trump. An idea Trump has recently latched onto again said that member of Congress, he took a bullet for us. I don't think we can have two airports named Trump. That'll be confusing for people.

Just practically speaking, you can't do it. which what all of a sudden you arrive at Palm Beach you think you're in Dulles you're fucked I mean Dulles like Dulles is a terrible airport so he can have his name you can call it Trump that was the biggest

that was the biggest applause line I got all night They did love that They loved that it was the two things that are on people's minds are stopping arms sales to Israel and those fucking people movers I Look we don't have time for this but it's a beautiful building.

They fucked it up with those people movers. Next up, putting Trump's face on the $100 bill. That's true. That is true. What about putting Trump's face on the $250 bill? Trick questions? Nope, it's also true. There was a proposal to put his face on a $250 bill

by Representative Joe Wilson. Next up, carving Trump's face on the side of a mountain on a remote island. I mean, true? That's technically false because that's Dr. Evil's layer in Austin Powers, the spy who shagged me. But carving Trump's face onto Mount Rushmore, that's real. Is it real? Yes.

In January 2025, Florida rep Anna Polina Luna introduced legislation to have Trump's face added to Mount Rushmore. I love the open collar. Now, the parks department does say that there's not a lot of good carvable rock left on the mountain for another face. That doesn't mean they won't try it. Do you know they were originally supposed to put their whole bodies on there? They were supposed to go all the way down to the legs. But they gave up.

They gave up, which I think was right. Can we have an honest conversation about how Rushmore is kind of stupid? Oh. Oh, you like it? You have to say it's good? I mean, it's a little weird that, like, Roosevelt's on there, right? Like, he sort of snuck in there between some of the tight. Honestly, I would have put Jefferson there.

Sorry, sorry. I'm pro. I didn't know, like, I didn't know. Oh, were Jefferson heads here? Were Jefferson here? Who do you think made the nails in his nailery? They were children. I brought a weird energy to it at the end.

I know, I know. I'm just going to like, no, I'm just going to like stay pro-mounted rushmore. No, no, I get it. You should. This is not the fight to me. I'm not going to rethink that position tonight. And final, that's good. See, see, you know where he stands on stuff, but he's still thinking about politics, you know.

That's what you need. Directing the National Institute of Health to study the psychological and sociological factors behind a mysterious element known as Trump derangement syndrome. 100% true. That is real. A congressman proposed the Trump derangement syndrome research act of 2025. Well, you know what?

If they're going to study cases of it, I think we got both of us have it pretty bad. We do. Senator Chris Murphy, thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Senator Chris Murphy, everybody. That was great. Thank you. We'll be right back with Simone and Eugene.

Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Love It is brought you by Built. We can all agree that housing is expensive, rent and mortgage. It doesn't matter which one you're paying. stings every month, but Bill can make it feel a little better. Let us explain. Built started out. Rewarding members for their rent. Now, as of 2026, built members can also earn points on mortgage payments wherever they live. Every housing payment earns you points you can use towards flights

with top travel partners like United and Hyatt, Lyft rides, Amazon.com purchases, and so much more. Personally, I'd redeem points for business classes or home delivery from Amazon or through their travel porter or lift rides. But here's what I think is the most underrated. Built members get access to a neighborhood concierge. She can make restaurant reservations, book fitness classes, and find new local spots, all while being rewarded at more than 45,000 merchant partners. It's like having a personal assistant baked into where you live. It's simple. Being a renter and now owning a home is better with Bilt. Join the membership for where you live at joinbilt.com slash love it. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-T dot com slash love it. Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you.

Love it to leave it is brought to you by Smalls. Smalls is fresh human-grade cat food that does so much more than feed your cat. It helps them live. a full healthy life. Most cat food out there is made with meat by products. Cheap fillers and artificial ingredients basically stuff that isn't great for your cat. Big pet food does this because it's cheaper to make. But when they save on cost, your cat pays with their health. Smalls is different. Their fresh recipes are made with at least 80% animal protein and they're gently cooked to retain all the nutrients and flavor. They never add fillers or artificial ingredients and their food is so healthy that 88% of cat parents say that after feeding smalls, their cats have better

digestion, a softer and shiny your coat, and more energy to play because it's actually good for cats. You can even try small's risk-free. They'll refund you if your cat won't eat their food. Your cat's health and longevity starts with what they eat. Try smalls and get 60% off your cat's first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you go to smalls.com slash love it one last time that's 60% off your first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com slash love it. Please welcome to the stage. My fellow soldiers in the 24-hour political news cycle trenches. MS now is Eugene Daniels and Simone Sanders Townsend.

Hi. Love having you both. This is so great. Oh, this stage is a mess. Yeah, it's a mess. Wow, they love you. Where's our boss? Yeah.

Where's Madeline Harriger? Shout out to Madeline. Yeah, shout out to Madeline. There's you got. Yes, yes. Madeline is how we got a podcast. You'll give it up for Madeline. I know where my bread is butter.

Correct. We like you. We're happy to be here. You know, we are missing the nice party at the Irish Embassy. It's true. And, you know. Those people know how to throw a party. Our friend John McCarthy is not pleased.

We're like, we sent a video. We're like, we would love it. So we're not going to be there. The luck of the Jewish. We're not touching that. He's such a comedian. So it's White House Correspondence Dinner Weekend here in D.C. Over 250 journalists signed a petition demanding the White House Correspondents Association

formerly demonstrate opposition to Trump on Saturday. Forcefully demonstrate opposition. You can't formally do it. I don't know. I guess you could formally and forcefully do it. What does that involve? What do they want other than a pocket square? There's a pocket square involved.

There's pocket squares. And I hope that helps. There are pins. Pins. I'm not sure. I think the letter wasn't specific. It wasn't really specific. It was like very long.

But I think what they're hoping for, and I think this will happen. is at least an implicit defense, an explicit defense of the First Amendment, a defense of the WHCA, the correspondent setter there, and some implicit digs maybe at people who do not support those things. See, here's the thing. She's my anger translator. I thought the letter did give some specific. No, no, it did not.

The letter said it suggested some things that they could do. They said forcefully speak to the importance of the First Amendment directly in front of the face of the person Which they always do. Do that? I did last year. You did. But then the president wasn't there.

They're saying, what Donald Trump is sitting there in the room, what the journalists are requesting, they're like, look, he's there now. So when he's sitting there, be very clear with him. And I think that that's a very specific request, and I hope they do that.

I won't be Kiki Kee Kian. I'll be there because I'll be at work. Correct. These people are like, are you going? You better not go. Do you pay my mortgage? This is how I contribute to my household. I'm going to work.

And work on Saturday is that dinner and the MS now after party. Exactly. But what you do in the room is what matters, how you respond to Donald Trump. And if he goes off on the tangent for 45 minutes and he's saying all kinds of crazy shit and pointing fingers at the press and da-da-da-da, we need to be prepared to respond.

Well, it's a guarantee that he is going to say all kinds of crazy shit. I will... So it is what are people going to do. I will say people in the audience. I've talked to other reporters who are within... the WHCA kind of like figuring out what people are planning. Like what are they thinking about doing?

And people are struggling. What are they doing? Anybody going to walk out? I ain't saying no names. But there was someone yesterday that was telling me and my husband they're walking out. As soon as he get up. I don't know who that's going to be. And y'all can watch T-SPAN to see who would be.

Well, they'll probably be in the back. They'll be on the cameras anyway. But people are trying to figure out what does it look like to get up and leave. Do you wait until he says something? Do you do it when he comes in? It's unclear. You know, I'm realizing as we discussed this, that a lot of what dealing with Trump has been over the last decade is a bunch of people who see a bear and they're like, is this the kind of bear where you lie down?

Or is this the kind of bear where you make yourself real big? And it's like some people are like, get down and hide. It's like, no, it's not that kind of bear. You got to make yourself real big. And it's like we kind of go back and forth. He respects people that fight back. Like the thing is when you watch how he operates. When you watch all he operates,

and this is for people who capitulated from the very beginning, is that if you put up a fight, Donald Trump, in his, like, queen heart of hearts, he respects the fight, and he likes the tussle. And when you talk to reporters who have written about him, and then they go and see him a couple days later after he tweets about them and calls him all types of names, everything but a child of God,

he says to them, you know what, you're real tough. I like you. And that's, and so like for him it's all a game. It's not a game to many of you and here, I assume, maybe all of you. But for him, a lot of the back and forth is a game. I think, look, the fact that they're giving an award to the Wall Street Journal for reporting about the Epstein files that night and that Trump is going to have to leave before the award. I get, I mean, they should just surprise him by, I get why he wants to leave before it's giving out, but maybe just change the schedule and get it out there. before my other pitch. I mean, yeah, what's you gonna do once he's in there? They don't know. Once he's sitting down, it's gonna be like, actually, we're gonna start with the awards.

Yeah. Play the video. Epstein. That's actually what they should do. They should switch it up on his ad. I make some calls tonight. That's my pitch. That's my pitch.

I like that idea. My other idea is that the mentalist. Here's what the mentalist is like, wait a second, I'm seeing a peninsula. No, no, no. It's an island. You know what I'm saying? Uh-huh.

He's like, the mentalist was on morning, Joe, and the mentalist is good. I'm scared. I'm actually glad I'm not sitting where the mentalist can see because I don't want the mentalist reading my thoughts. My husband was like,

close your eyes when he walks by. I hope he doesn't go deep into the crowd. Absolutely not. Mind my business. Maybe he'll read Nikki Minaj's mind. That's a dangerous place to be. That sounds fun. She's sitting with Fox.

Apparently. I think she's at the dinner. Nikki Minaj is going. Oh, she is? Here's the thing. How did Nikki Minaj get into dinner? But Nellie is just the dancing horse. Well, because Nelly apologized.

That was why. Oh. Yeah, Nelly is getting paid and he is performing in case you didn't know. Nellie, yes. St. Louis's finest. Where is Nellie performing? Nellie is performing at a party. A private party that's hosted at the little Trump club.

Oh, one of those Trump clubs. EI, EI, uh-oh. Oh, what's popular? Happening night. Why are we like this? Love is like, I made a mistake. No. New polls from Reuters.

Among others, have Trump's approval rating plummeting to 35%. The GOP held Congress has an 86% disapproval rating. That's cool. Low. Simone, how Democrats are you thinking to fuck this up? You know, there's a merit of wage. that it could go down. But I actually have confidence in my Democratic friends.

Say that again, more believable. I have confidence in the Democrats. Because what I have been hearing from them is they are all laser focused on November. I mean, even the, they wouldn't call it a ploy, but I'm going to call it a ploy. Even the ploy by House Democrats to bring that legislation

or that bill or that resolution about the 25th of me. and to start that Democratic Ranking Committee, that is not because they think the 25th Amendment is going to go anywhere in Congress. People need the civics lesson. Congress actually does not have a role in the 25th Amendment unless the cabinet invokes it

and the president then says, I'm not going. Then it goes to Congress, and Congress kicks out the president, installs the vice president, and picks a new vice president. I see, what y'all know about Simone saying, it sounds that she's a nerd, and I hope y'all clock that just now. This girl stays with the president. the history lessons. Okay.

Yes, that is the history. So, but they did that because the base and Democratic voters out there are asking, because they're seeing, in that same Rortas poll, they also, the people were also asked in the poll about Trump's erraticness and basically, is he okay? And the people in the poll are like, no, they've got, they're lacking confidence, even in the Rorters poll. And so folks out there, like the folks listening to this podcast and the people here in the room, they see what we see.

They hear what we hear. And they're like, can somebody get this? man out of here? We are at war. So the Democrats are being responsive to what the base voters want in that sense. So they're fighting for real on the ground that they can, but they're also looking like they're fighting

on the things that the base cares about. And I think that that's good politics. And so I think that it goes nowhere. Even if it goes nowhere. I think it's important. Now, I'm somebody that says, y'all should impeach his ass when you get back in there. Because I do. And they're like, well, for what? And I'm like, do

an investigation. And I'm sure we will find a high crime and or misdemeanor. For what? For the crimes he's been doing, I think. There's the, they're the crime, they're the sort of, you know, federal statute style kind of quotidian, old school kind of normal crimes, and they're the crimes

against the Constitution. And those you could just, you can just say that that's what they are. Because it's what they are, you know, the closing of... Misdemeanors or whatever Congress at the time says they are. Okay, but see, we have allowed, see, the bar is in hell, actually. And somebody on threads the other day. I'm a threster, by the way.

Is that what we call? I know. I'm a thren. A friend. Somebody on threadsy. He is always using slurs against me, by the way, on our podcast. I called her an auntie. He called an auntie.

It's a slur when he says it. She looks like an auntie sometimes. Tonight, guys, the slur is we were up in the room. It was cold up there too, by the way. And I'm sitting there on a couch like this, eat my popcorn. And he's like, you look like a first lady. That's a slur. You are coming for me.

That's number three. Does she not like a first lady? He is being derogatory towards me. He's a shady queen. What did you mean? Why don't you just tell us what you meant? Just say what you meant. She looks like a first lady.

What do you mean? You're just repeating it. What does it mean, Eugene? Like she's about to go out and pick some. What? Pick some what? Vegetables with the children. They heard it.

Pick some vegetables with the children. They heard it. He's about to pick cotton. We are now. Madeline, please stop here. I don't even remember what the question was. We had one first lady pick vegetables. It's like one time.

The rest of them, I don't know what they did. Oh, so you're saying all the black first ladies look alike? They like vegetables. I'm leaving. I don't have to put up with this. I'm going to the crowd. I'm sitting there as to Tug League. Now, before we

end the show. I don't even know where we are. I'm just enjoying myself. I'm enjoying the dynamic. I like being an observer of it, I do so much talking on this show and the fact that for the last few minutes was I here, it doesn't matter.

Yeah, this is, this is... This is now a clocket podcast. It's now a clocket. Please send us a collaboration link on YouTube. I'll have my people do that. So, now Simone and I are partisans, but Eugene, you're a journalist.

I am. And I was hoping that you could put Simone and me on the spot with what you think are the toughest questions for Democrats right now. If there are any on your mind, oh, and he's got a card. I may have written some time. Now, and I should preface this that I can just cut this if it doesn't go well for us.

That's true. It might not go well for you. Eat shit, David Ellison. I own this microphone. Wow. Did you use a Trump Sharpie to do this? I did. He's right about some things, and the Sharpie is very...

It's a great pen, for sure. They make a great product over there at Sharpie. All right, let's see. What are our questions? I'm excited about that. I know, it's good. Should the Democrats expand the tent to the right? bring in the Liz Cheney's of the world.

I feel like we have some answers out here. Or should they double down on folks like this? That's a good question. I'm very good at this. Okay, here's the thing. I think that the Democratic tent is large. That is the part of being a Democrat. Like there are many factions.

I don't think that Democrats should over-exert themselves, though, to gain support of Republicans. I think that they should do a little outreach. But the tent is large, and there are many people in the tent that are all. that are not voting for you right now? Was it a mistake when Kamala did it in 2024? I think the mistake was doing town halls in the suburbs

with Liz Cheney and white people and not doing one at the barbershop in Philly. There we go. With the blacks. Mr. Lovett. My sincere answer is, I'll answer directly. No, it was not a mistake. The problem is not that Kamala Harris did an event with Liz Cheney. The problem is Kamala Harris doing an event with Liz Cheney

and people not having a deeper sense of what Kamala Harris stands for led people to question whether or not she was for. them. And yes, you can address that by doing events and speaking to people, but there was a deeper problem in that campaign partially, honestly, because of some of her challenges that a politician, but also mostly because she had 107 days to explain both for Joe Biden and for kind of the future she was trying to promise. So I do not think the problem was doing events with Liz Cheney. Like, it is a cliche, but I do think, especially in a moment like this, like building a pro-democracy movement is about addition, not subtraction. And I want to be part of a big movement. And I want to be part of a big movement.

that runs all the way from anti-Trump pro-democracy Republicans to as far left as you want to go. And that will create friction and challenges, but we ought to be unabashed and competent in that. I think it's important, but again, the optics of only doing the town halls where you were taking questions from voters in the suburbs with people who are identified as Republicans

that are looking to vote for a Democrat and not doing that for members of the base of your party who also have questions, who also need persuasion is the current problem that the Democratic Party apparatus has. So you must do both. You have to do both.

Best messenger in the Democratic Party right now. Love it. You first. That's a good question. That's a good question. Just shouting your own answers. I heard a Gavin... It is a group conversation. I heard a Gavin from the back.

So my... Pete does Pete. I think right now, we're seeing people strengths in their, like what their strengths are as... Pick one. I don't, but I genuinely, I'm not... But I'm sincerely, I'm not avoiding your question. I don't think there is one right now.

My honest answer would be there is right now no one person that to me rises to the top and I say, oh, that is so clearly the person who speaks for the Democratic Party, in part because Joe Biden was the caretaker candidate running against Trump the first time and we didn't have a primary the second time. We haven't had that big, fractious debate. I think the messenger emerges from... that process. I do. And I want somebody that can go on Fox News, go on a stream with a lefty, go on MS, go on a two-hour podcast with a finance influencer. Like, I want the kind of person

who's comfortable everywhere, and they got to, we got to get the reps. Yeah. I think you're, I think, look, there is no one clear leader of the Democratic Party, but I think the best messengers right now are the Democratic governors. Yes. The Democratic governors are the best messengers. Also, I always forget, every time I come with my POSAve cousins, I forget this is a place where we do the Joe Biden slander.

It's always a good reminder. I'm like, oh, here we go. Who's the, it's a homily for us? It is. It's like, open up your prayer books. We begin by talking about how Joe Biden's the run that caused all this. Worst, worst messenger in the Democratic Party right now.

You can't say Joe Biden. Well, there's a, though. Thank you. The Razzies? I mean, it's sort of a tough fucking category. Look, I would say that, like, if you're going to say, who is the most prominent worst messenger

as Chuck Schumer? And he may be, that's just, there's a lot of people that are terrible messengers. Who has the most attention who I think does the least to be the right person to communicate on our behalf? It's him. That's the answer.

Ma'am. Who's the worst messenger? I'm just answering. I'm just answering. I see this. I see this. I don't know what's going to happen. See, he lives in Los Angeles. He lives in Los Angeles.

He doesn't got to be here with these people in the street. What's going to happen? I'm going to go back to my hotel and all of a bagel's going to come through the window. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Watch out. I guess the worst messengers. I would, okay, fine.

I think at this point the most prominent worst messenger, he's right. It's Chuck Schumer. But if he were saying publicly, all the things that he's saying privately, he would be different. He would be the best. messenger. So I don't know why it's not the same. Well, that's interesting. He should try that. It's opposite day. Yeah. I, I, I, I, I, what

he said, the things Chuck Schumer is doing privately and saying privately that he's not broadcasting, those are the, the thing. And I, and I'll just add one thing, which is I'm happy. He's trying to win the Senate. And I think he got a good strategy. They give him money to, to a candidate in Mississippi. And there are moments

and I'll, just the other side of this, because I do think I want to be fair. Uh, I do not think he's a great communicator. I also think a lot of problems are laid at Chuck Schumer's feet that are not Chuck Schumer's problem, but are either structural or the decisions of other members. And so there are moments where I'm very frustrated by him as the face of the party, but there are also moments where he has to be a little bit like Batman at the end of Dark Night. It's like we have to, he's because he's the one we have to chase. He's the villain that we need. And so we all get to say, ah, we'd be doing so great

if it wasn't for that fucking Chuck Schumer. It's like, I guess, I guess. Why? Why? not do you want it out because we all, I assume you all want the 2024 autopsy out from the Democratic Party I assume everybody wants that. Why do you think? That applause was kind of tepid. It was. They don't care about the autopsy,

that's fine. Why do you think they're keeping the autopsy secret? I know why, because they don't want it to be a distraction. This was told to me by people familiar with the matter, three people familiar. I got more than two sources. Yeah, so she can say it. Exactly. But they don't want it to be a

distraction. They feel like it'll be an unforced era, especially this close. And one could argue they could have released this thing last December, and nobody would care about it right now. January, so I don't, I'm not advising the Democratic Party, so I would have told them that's crazy. But they think it's an unforced era, so we will not see it prior to the election. We might see it this December, though.

There's, um, it will leak. There's that paradox about how you can move closer to your office, but it'll take longer to get there, because you'll switch from a bike to walking on foot, um, because you're in this in-between space. where you think you may, you don't know what I'm saying? Because if you were, you've been doing some meditation. So, well, because. He's elevated.

You went to therapy this week? I love this. See? I'm not saying my therapist till next week. That is so sweet of you to say. And I love that that's the energy I'm giving off. It has been, it has been years. But, uh...

In this climate, you need, we all need a therapist. Yeah. But I think sometimes it is easy to avoid the, for sure. And there's a sponsor you can call, but said the... And then if they're here, Thank you for all that you do. But I think sometimes we avoid, as Democrats, we avoid momentary pain, even if that would get you to a better place on the other side of it. And I think that's just short-term thinking.

Like, oh, we'll have a big, fractious debate. We're going to do that anyway. Get it out there. I mean, because we were talking about this was January. And it's like, I'm sorry. But if these midterms are determined by a debate over a fucking 2024 autopsy in January, 26, that's going to decide. November, we got bigger problems. So I think you're right. I think it was just short-term thinking.

All right, I think we got to leave it there. Before we go, I'd like to offer us an opportunity to rant about something that's in our hearts, which is why it's time for a round of the rant wheel. Here's how it works. We'll put a minute on the timer. You let loose on whatever person plays or a thing you want to rant about. And honestly, if it's also about the news, sure, why not? Go for it.

that it can be about anything you'd like. Let's spin the wheel. Oh, this is so cute. I knew that was going to happen. Eugene, you have one minute. What would you like to rant about? I don't even need a minute. What I want is for these members of Congress

to stop sexually harassing their staffs. These people, men, women, and otherwise. These folks, young people come to this city in order to try to find a job because they care about this country, they care about policy. They care about how politics impacts people's lives, and then they have to deal with their boss's boss's boss,

rubbing their ass, tell him to come to the dinner, calling them in inappropriate times, kissing on them when they don't want it. It's a problem, and he's a stop. Wow, that was good. I kind of wish I would have went first now. He's right. He's right.

It's insane. I disagree. Yeah. Yeah, he's got their number. Wasn't it Lauren Bobert who was walking out being like, why is everybody so horny here? And I'm like, ma'am. It's like, you jerk somebody off at Beetlejuice. Physician healed myself.

It's like, pop meat kettle. Child, you are not the best message. And take one and no one, right? She was just walking out of game. She was just locking it. But that was just consensual at a fun concert. That's true. No power dynamics at Beetlejuice other than, as far as I'm aware,

I don't think there's just sort of two people having a blast. They seemed like they were both into it. family event. All right, let's spin it again. Simone, what would you like to rant about? You have 60 seconds? Okay, so I just think we keep talking about how like, oh, the president is erratic. His strategy seems confused. The president is not okay. There's something wrong with Donald Trump, and I just feel like we should all just start saying it. It's not controversial to say it. I want the people to stop sanewashing him. There is no strategy. There is no there. It doesn't

makes sense because he's not all right. The man goes off on tangents about seals and dolphins and milk and wherever he sees in the fucking street. Like it doesn't make sense. And he has been this way for a very long time, but people have excused his erraticness. I don't know what's going on with the president, but something is going on with him. He is not okay. Susie Wiles, tap in, help us save grandpa. I want to know what's going on with Donald Trump. Is he in charge? Is he making the decisions? Does somebody else take us to war? And I'm not talking about Prime Minister Netanyahu. Who in the White House is making their decisions?

Let's spin it again. Is that old picture? You know what, Eugene? You know what, Eugene? Are his questions good now? I was even-handed. I had your back. I fucking defended you.

Must be nice. We're your building coalitions. What do you do? Look, I have a serious. I have a serious topic, obviously on par with what Simone and Eugenia talk about. There's a button on the side of the iPhone that simply should not be there. It seems to be very sensitive and it's designed to open the camera whenever. If you press it again, it may take a picture.

It may not. It's very sensitive and delicate except when you're trying to take a picture at which point it does not do anything. Tim Cook announced he's stepping down. He was at the Melania premiere and I hold him responsible. Eugene Daniel, Simone Sanders,

and thank you so much for being here. out Simone as the co-anchor of MS now is the weeknight airing weeknights at seven. And Eugene is senior Washington reporter and co-anchor of MS now as the weekend airing Saturdays and Sundays from 7 to 10 a.m. Eugene and Simone, thank you so much. Thank you. And we'll be right back. Check out their podcast, Clock It and watch them on MS now. Hey, don't go anywhere.

There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Love it or Leave it is brought you by Helix. Sleep. Oh, boy, so important. Love sleep. A good night's reskin. set you up for a great day. I have lots of sleep issues. I have trouble falling asleep. Sometimes I wake up. Staying asleep. Dogs moaning. It's got, you know, dogs got sleep issues now.

We all got sleep issues. I have a way of trying to fall asleep, which is I saw on the internet, and it actually works, which is you say words and you use the last letter of the word to figure out the first letter of the next word. And it gets your brain in a random pattern the way it helps, you know, sleep kind of as you're falling asleep, your brain goes a little wild. And it's a trick. So you'd be like Apple, elephant, triceratops, and now you're off to the races, kind of making your brain. It's like counting backwards, right?

Sort of like a little different. Yeah, like how it makes your brain do things that does when you fall in. I like it. I like it. But you know what else really helps? Having a Helix mattress. Helix makes buying a mattress easy.

Take the Helix sleep quiz and it will match you with the perfect mattress based on your personal preferences and sleep needs. Get free shipping and seamless delivery. Helix delivers your mattress right to your door with free shipping in the U.S. The happy with Helix guarantee

offers a risk-free customer-first experience. designed to ensure you're completely satisfied with your new mattress so you can rest easy with seamless returns and exchanges. Plus, Helix offers a 120-night sleep trial and limited lifetime warranty. I love my Helix mattress. So comfortable. It's a huge upgrade off my previous mattress. I have a Don Lux, because that's what I got from the quiz. And I recommend it. Go to helixleep.com slash love it for 20% offsite wide. That's helixleck.com slash love it for 20% offsite wide. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you, Helixleep.com slash love it.

And we're back. We typically end the show with a segment we call Second Thoughts, and we love it. I second guess what I've done in this very show. But tonight, I want to open the floor to your Second Thoughts. This can be Second Thoughts about this very program, or second thoughts about your own lives, whatever you'd like. If you have a good second thought, please raise your hand. I'm going to come out there.

Let's bring up the lights. Who has a second thought? Oh, you have a second thought. I do. I was just going to say, I think you can change what that button does in your phone setting.

Who has a second thought? Hi, the first time I came here to see you three years ago, I insulted you, and you cut me off. Are these people really Democrats? Are they just fun time Democrats? Oh, like everyone here?

You've got to be a Democrat. You've got to be Democrat all the time, win or lose? especially when we lose? No, when we lose, I think we should point fingers, cast them out, and find new Democrats.

I'm a Democrat the whole time, always. I think some people aren't, some people not. We need them all. I don't care if they're Democrats or not. I want them to vote for Democrats. I don't need them to be Democrats.

I just want to make sure they vote at the time is right. You know what I'm saying? Oh, you have a second thought? After 2015, I re-registered from a Democrat to an independent. because of how they treated Bernie Sanders.

Sorry. But I'm a progressive. Should I re-register as a Democrat to vote in the D.C. primary? Sure. Absolutely. Absolutely. Let's do it. Okay. What's your second thought? So I'm curious about four people you would put on Mount Rushmore.

Oh, boy. I'll think about that. I'll think about that. I know you love a good land acknowledgement, but, you know, Mount Rushmore was originally designed to destroy the sacred Black Hills for the Sioux Tribe. So I feel that that's important to acknowledge. I'm glad you brought that up, too. And I knew that that was in there, but I didn't have the facts about it, but it was part of my resentment towards the mountain.

Hi, what's your second thought? Hell yes for the yes, though. And also, I think we could have hated Thomas Jefferson a little bit more. Okay. Okay. I think we hated Chuck Schumer the right amount. So you have a second thought? How much should the left blame Joe Rogan for all of their problems?

Ooh. I think, I don't think we can blame Joe Rogan for all of our problems. I don't think we can blame anyone for all of our problems, except our mothers. I'm having second thoughts that I have more hope that it's going to go well in the midterms. From someone from Australia, we're watching and we're loving what's happening here. So I think. Okay. Australia.

Let me go over there. I'm coming around to that side, and then we'll call it. I'm coming around. Who has second thoughts over here? Does anybody have a second thought over here? Okay. I'm a middle school science teacher, and I'm trying to teach science right now to children.

And I'm having second thoughts about that because I have had a thing I've taught for 15 years about what pseudoscience is, and that included aliens, but now apparently those are real. I think you should just got to set stuff on fire, and then use that time when they're paying attention to get all the information to them.

You've got to just set stuff on fire. That's... That's literally 30 seconds. Yeah, that's the coolest part about science teaching, I think. Anybody have a second thought over here? Okay, let's do a couple more. I think we have a second thought about the term kitchen table issues.

If you are trans, if you're gay, if you work for USAID, you're having a pretty sparse kitchen table right now. and the fact that people differentiating silo one issue from the other is really problematic. Well, I presumably, I mean, interesting. I would just say trans people

have kitchen tables and the kitchen table issues are their issues too. And trans people got to eat. I'm always saying this. Oh, hi. I have second thoughts about being a wellness girlie because I feel like that's very right-wing coded these days and I think we really need to take back the wellness culture.

I would say right-wing-coded. is as right-wing-coated does. I don't think eating fruits and vegetables is sort of conservative on any level. And for a while, eating bacon was right-wing-coded, and I think it still basically is. So I wouldn't worry too much about that, because, honestly, just live your life and be healthy, and then that becomes as coded as whatever you are.

That's what I think about that. All right. Thank you all for joining us tonight, but before we go, there is one second thought I don't want us to have, which is that we get really, really, really close to winning the House and Senate, but it just doesn't break our way in the end. Aplod if you are from or know someone from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio, Arizona. We have competitive races that will decide control not only of the House but of the Senate. Talk to your people. It is the time.

is the time. Remind your friends, families, and neighbors about the stakes and remind them that their vote will make a difference. Sharing information, donating to places that actually put your money to good use, these things can decide the outcome of the election. And so tonight, I'm asking everybody here, when you walk your beautiful asses into the lobby, talk to our incredible volunteers at the vote, Save America table. They will get you signed up. If you haven't signed up yet to be a part of this community, we can win. But it will be about all of us showing up and creating a genuine in groundswell in which everybody from political freaks like us to less engaged in partisan voters who's to see November as a chance to hold Trump accountable and register anger at the corruption

chaos and failure to address the actual problems we face as a country. So sign up and I will see you all out there. That is our show. Thank you to Senator Chris Murphy, Eugene Daniels, and Simone Sanders, Townsend. We will see you next week back in L.A. There are 191 days until the midterms. Have a great night and have a great weekend. Thank you. And thank you to the Lincoln Theater. And thank you, D.C. If you're already scrolling endlessly, which we know you are, don't forget to follow us at Crooked Media on Instagram, TikTok, and all the other ones for original content, community events, and more. You can also find Love It or Leave it on YouTube for videos of your favorite segments and other YouTube exclusive content. And if you want to type our praises or rip us a new one,

consider dropping us to review. Finally, you can join Crooked's Friends of the Pod subscription community for ad free, Love It or Leave It and Pod Save America episodes, subscriber-exclusive pods, and more, sign up at crooked.com slash friends. Love it or leave it is a crooked media production. It's written and produced by me, John Lovett. Kendra James is our executive producer. Bill McGrath is our producer. Halle Keeper is our head writer.

Sarah Lazarus is our senior staff writer and Jocelyn Kaufman, Peter Miller, Alan Pierre and Suba Argoal are our writers. Jordan Cantor is our editor. Charlotte Landis provide audio support. Stephen Colon is our audio engineer. Our theme song is written and performed by Sure, sure. Thanks to our designer, Sammy Kudurneurreeze for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast.

And to our digital producers, David Tolls, Claudia Shang, Mia Kelman, Delon, Villeneueva, Jayvah, Jayek, and Rachel Gaieski for filming and editing video each week so that you can. Love It or Leave it is produced by Lee Eisenberg, and our head of production is Matt DeGrope. And our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.